950 thoughts on “Gestational Diabetes”

1. “Everything I was presented resonated for me as truth and love.” Universal Medicine presents the truth with love that the way we choose to live and care for ourselves is felt in our body.

2. There is always that disparity between what we think is heathy and what our body actually says is healthy.

3. I love how something we once considered impossible can become not just possible, but easily done – not by pushing and efforting, but just as a natural eventuality because of small adjustment we introduce into our everyday life – like saying yes and surrendering to love, just even a tad more than we ever have.

4. That is incredible Doug, thank you for sharing and it highlights to me how our thoughts can sometimes get in the way of us making certain choices.

5. Thank you Susan, it is definitely worth it and I haven’t looked back. I now understand how much my diet affects how I feel and how much it contributes to my level of vitality. The way I eat can either make me feel dull, heavy and tired or I can feel light, vibrant, clear and connected to myself.

6. That is amazing Doug, and to heal from irritable bowel syndrome by changing your diet is inspiring. It shows your commitment to self-love and to nurture your body and to embrace life is very strong and solid. It is inspiring to read and I would love to read more about your experience.

7. Thank you Sally and I am continuously refining this more and more. Sometimes I can fall back into eating for comfort but the foods I eat most people would consider it to be super healthy but now I realise overeating can also have a similar effect on me now as when I used to eat junk food.

8. Just noticing there are many substitutes on the market, we now have whole isles in the supermarket of gluten free products, we have stores dedicated to flavoured vape ‘cigarettes’, and no doubt huge gap in the market for alcohol free spirits, beers and wines. None of these however address the fact that it is not substitution that is needed, but an honest look at what is going on if our collective health is to make a true change.

9. In many ways this highlights how most of us just accept the exhaustion, aches, pains, tensions, and luster-lacking life we lead as just being normal and part and parcel ‘of life’. This in itself is a great ill to our species as we do not even question whether life in fact could be an entirely different experience

10. This I feel is where the dieting views and beliefs come into play; many of the foods are low fat, low sugar, low this and that but are still the same foods. The manufacturers are great at marketing something as being healthy by changing the name and confusing the consumer. We as the consumer believe that we are making healthy choices but in fact are still suffering from the same ailments.

    1. Great point Julie and so many of us fall for this because we tend to think we are healthy but forget to check in with our body in terms of how our body feels after eating. When we rely on our mind we can be easily fooled with regards to food but when we listen to our body it will reveal the truth of how certain foods make us feel

11. There are so many ways we abuse ourselves, our food, thoughts, way we move. There is much to appreciate about our bodies as they are constantly showing us the truth of our choices and how these impact our health.

    1. So true Ruth, I didn’t realise this until I came to Universal Medicine and understand what abuse really is. I used to be oblivious to the many ways we abuse our body with food, our thoughts and the way we move. Now, it is so obvious and my health has improved hugely because of this.

12. We have come to a point where illness and disease is high, and on the rise. Why this is and looking at ways to change this paradigm are very needed. Reading this article hints at some very significant issues that we have as a world community. Knowing a way we are living is not supportive of our body, but ignoring this knowing is by far high on the list. It is not that we ignore that is the issue, but what lies behind this choice is what each of us needs to explore if we want to support our body to be more healthy and vital.

    1. It is great to explore Leigh and I notice that the way I am throughout the day affects my food choices. It is the way I walk, sit, express and hold my body which then leads me to either feel full within myself or feel empty and go searching for food in the pantry to fill the void.

13. Considering ourselves as healthy just because we have not smoked, drank alcohol, done drugs shows just how far we have come from living with true vitality, even though it is awesome to have not partaken in these harmful pursuits. We now have many people on the planet that feel they are healthy just because they don’t have cancer or heart disease, for instance. One day we will only consider ourselves as having real wellbeing when we are living with harmony, joy, love, and stillness in all of our daily activities, as we are designed to.

    1. “One day we will only consider ourselves as having real wellbeing when we are living with harmony, joy, love, and stillness in all of our daily activities, as we are designed to.” So true Michael. There is a general lack of understanding in the world today of what true health really is.

    2. So true Michael, what you’ve shared highlights to me how far we have strayed from true health and forgetting what it looks like to be healthy, vital and full of joyful energy.

14. It is easy to override what our body is telling us about food, because food dulls our awareness, what I found was eventually certain foods no longer felt right, I actually started to get more physical signs like mouth ulcers, or stomach cramps, which made me realise that my body was trying to tell me something, that it didn’t like the food I was eating, I came to realise that not all food that tastes good is good for you and so I began to listen to what my body needed.

    1. I know what you mean Sally, that food dulls our awareness. We all have to eat but we can eat in a way that is light and in a way, that supports us to not feel heavy and dull. For example, we had some friends over for dinner for the first-time a while ago and one of their comments was that they felt light afterward and I took that as a compliment.

15. I feel it is worthwhile getting a comprehensive check up from the doctor every year and occasionally more comprehensive blood and urine tests to check what’s going on with our health as we can think we are doing ok, when in truth our body is deteriorating on the inside.

    1. Thank you for the reminder, Elaine. I went for a health check up last year and I am due for one again soon. Prior to Universal Medicine, I didn’t pay much attention to care and love my body the way I do now.

16. We can say to ourselves that our body is not coping, in your case with pregnancy and be sad and disappointed but it is always a clear message that our body is giving us and when we start to listen we know the body delivers us truth and will not stop until we act on what it is communicating.

    1. It is very important to listen to our body. Can you imagine what it would be like if we didn’t receive messages from our body? I had a friend tell me how he badly hurt his shoulder because he was on very strong painkillers and he kept on working. He didn’t realised he damaged his shoulders because he couldn’t feel any pain until it was too late.

17. We can abuse ourselves in so many different ways. Alcohol and drugs are obvious but having no regard for oneself is equally or in my opinion more abusive to the body than any substance yet this way of being is not accepted in society as abuse that we carry out towards ourselves in every moment every single day which we choose to be totally ignorant and oblivious to.

    1. Great point Caroline, what you’ve shared is so needed. We have so many forms of abuse in our society that are disguised as being good and even healthy for us.

18. There are so many things we can buy to counter exhaustion, I don’t think we have any idea how exhausted we really are. Very interesting what you say about changing diet. Food seems to have earned a cultural status and in its progression it has merged and fused with all kinds of things from everywhere and now everything seems to contain too much sugar/salt as enhancement. We are eating decidedly more both in volume and variation, but not necessarily eating better.

    1. We seem to think that food gives us energy but then how can it make us feel tired if we eat certain foods or eat too much?

19. ‘I now see food and lifestyle as my medicine and preventative for developing diabetes later in life. I am not taking any chances; I am taking responsibility for my choices.’ It’s great to feel how you are claiming your responsibility for how you are living and how that may or may not contribute to you developing diabetes in later life. With the explosion in diabetes currently what you write is gold because it is in understanding how someone changes from feeling powerless over the fact that they may develop e.g. diabetes in later life and choosing to ‘take their chances’ rather than looking at how they are living and supporting themselves with their diet to make positive changes. Demonstrating so clearly that we all have the power to make lifestyle changes and thus prevent disease is a message that needs to be heard if we are not to completely bankrupt our health systems worldwide.

    1. I agree with you Helen. I talk to people who suffer from multiple symptoms of illness and disease mainly caused by lifestyle choices. And, I get the impression that they already know that they have the power to make amazing changes to their health and they share that they find it very difficult to let go of certain patterns, behaviours and food choices that they already know is not good for their health. They often say I can’t give up xyz because ‘I love my xyz’.

20. It is interesting that we may be more willing to take advice from someone else rather than the clear messages that we are constantly receiving from our own body.

    1. Yes, this is very common. We are generally not taught to listen to our body and we are then more likely give our power away to external information instead of listening to our own internal guide, our inner wisdom and the intelligence of our body.

21. Food and lifestyle are our medicine, and with this awareness the enormous strain on the worlds health budget would go immediately.

    1. Absolutely Cjames2012, and I reckon many businesses would thrive too as sickness levels dramatically reduced due to more and more people take responsibility for their health as a result of this awareness you mentioned here.

22. A clearer example of what sugar, gluten, dairy and processed foods do our physical body one cannot ask for; how good have we become at overriding what we are feeling and numbing ourselves out?

    1. I reckon we are very good at this Gabriele, and the numbing means we can further disregard our body and it can easily become a vicious cycle of abusing our body.

23. When it comes to food we are so good at manipulating and sweetening the impact our choices are making in our self talk and convince ourselves, it’s better than……..only to feel the consequences in our bodies after.

24. Serge Benhayon is a great role model and has inspired many of us to live a more loving life, the choice is down to us to either continue with our unloving choices or to make more loving ones which ultimately change our body’s ability to deal with illness and disease.

    1. Yes, Serge Benhayon has inspired me too Sally, in so many, many ways. I am deeply grateful to have access to his teachings, presentations, workshops and courses. Our world is blessed to have him as a role model, he inspires people globally to live the love that we are and to be aware of how our choices affect not only our health but humanity as a whole and more.

25. I can so relate to that feeling of knowing what you need to change but just not being able to fully break the pattern that holds you in that status quo.

    1. I find being aware of my patterns and behaviours, and being able to nominate which ones are harming and disregarding helps me to let them go and also it become easier to discard them when I deepen my level of self-love and self-care and develop a deeply loving relationship with my body. I have learnt that my body will support me to discard anything that is not loving, so it is so important to listen and honour it.

26. If our food is digested in the stomach, with other organs coming in to assist in the process, it seems sensible to allow our food choices to also come from our body. When we let the body feel what it wants/needs rather than listening to the shoulds or pushiness of the mind then we build a relationship with the body and it’s amazing wisdom, a body that is always there to balance and heal no matter where we are at.

    1. Great point Elaine, I have found my relationship with food has changed once I started to listen to my body and what you’ve shared makes absolute sense.

27. It’s amazing how we can delete things from our view when we perceive something. Like the article I perceived I was healthy because I exercised, it matter not what else I did because I exercised and occasionally ate a salad or greens and yet to someone else this may have been the same for them or completely different. There doesn’t seem to be a point where we all are on the same page and true health would need to have a consistent marker, a point we can ALL return to. This point has nothing to do with perception and everything to do with feeling, truly feeling everything that is happening anyway around us. As the article was saying the feelings are always there it’s just a matter of whether we are aware enough to listen and how we are, the quality we live and move in would have a direct impact on this awareness. This would be a constant marker, quality of movement, which would then bring awareness which would then allow us to hear our feelings, sounds simple.

28. I must admit, when I stopped drinking and smoking etc…I seemed to replace my habits with a “love” for food. I am not really over weight, although I know I am not my true weight. I am not really unhealthy, in the sense that I am on no medication but I know that I am burying issues and I would be much more vital and less likely to develop a disease later in life if I took more responsibility with what and when I choose to eat. In saying that I am gluten, dairy free and caffeine free. I am pretty good with refined sugar free, although I am still eating some. The point is, I have just found maple and rice malt and substitutes to fill the sugar void and I know my biggest and most addictive challenge with food is sugar and chocolate. You have done so well to commit to yourself in a way that is responsible and also invests in the future you!

    1. You have done so well too Anonymous, it sounds like you are super honest with yourself. In my experience when I am willing to be honest with myself about my food choices, and also be open to listen to my body and allow myself to feel the effects of my food choices, and then anything that is not support is easier to drop and discard.

29. It is extraordinary the vitality that is possible when we choose to remove harmful substances from our lives and stop abusing ourselves with food. It is always gorgeous to read of how people are inspired by the presentations or the students of Universal Medicine to adjust their lives in honour of their body and their health and as such find themselves living a love, truth and vitality not previously imagined.

    1. It is Samantha, I agree. If we can do this with food, what else can we change and improve that will further support our health, vitality and wellbeing?

30. ” I wanted to see how my body felt by cutting out gluten, dairy, caffeine and refined sugar. I was very curious as to how I would go and I surprised myself by how amazing I felt after the first month. I felt energised, calmer, lighter and more clarity.” Our body gives us so many messages, but how often do we listen?

    1. These messages from our body are gold and I only started listening to my body more and more when I chose to embrace self-love, self-care and self-nurture. My understanding is the more we ignore our body the easier it is to disregard and abuse our body.

31. I have noticed also that sometimes in my life I have made a choice to stop doing something self-abusive only to simply replace it with something else. This can give me the illusion that I am making progress in terms of my lifestyle, however what I have learnt is that unless the underlying energy driving the self-abusive choices has not been addressed then nothing really changes, just the way it appears.

    1. Yes, I have experienced this too Andrew. Also I notice when I have let go of an unloving pattern because I think I should and then a year or so later something happens and I find myself going back to the same old habit. This highlights to me that there is always a deeper level of love we can explore and embrace, it is not about right or wrong or about perfection but every choice we make offers us an opportunity to learn and grow.

32. Very interesting point you make here Chan that even when faced with the real possibility of developing a potentially life threatening and shortening disease, you still did not choose to change your lifestyle. I am sure many of us can relate to this situation. However when you started to reconnect to your tenderness and a quality inside of you that was loving and true and with the support of the inspirations from others, that this was the real turning point in terms of changing your lifestyle. This shows me that it is not about making changes as rules or even out of fear of consequences but from a deep sense of self love and care knowing that the divine preciousness that we all are deserves to be cherished and nurtured. True esoteric medicine at its best.

    1. It was definitely a turning point once I embraced more self-love, self-nurture and self-care, because mentally I knew what was good or bad for me but I couldn’t shift or make any long terms changes until I decided to embrace a more loving way of life. I found rules and having to reply on discipline didn’t work in supporting a true change.

33. There is no doubt that every time I overeat I get tired. I know it is obvious and makes sense but it has taken me a while to clock this cause and effect.

    1. Me too Caroline, I wasn’t aware of this until I started to really listen to my body. I sometimes still overeat but I am able to feel how it affects me and can no longer ignore the effects.

34. There seems to be two agendas running, the one that can play the game and everything is normal and the other that ensures that this veneer is never cracked. The behaviours to maintain that veneer take effort and nurturing and can be fully self-abusive to the point of introducing disease into the body. Diseases that affect the heart, the liver, the gall bladder, the nervous system even our endocrine system. They are very real and yet the behaviours that lead to those physical illnesses are also considered normal by society. The dedication to choosing to see those patterns of behaviour needs to be appreciated as part of the medicine to support the change to behaviours that do not have such negative life-changing affects on the body.

    1. It may take a while for humanity to realise how much our choices affect our health. I know more and more people are becoming aware of this and are willing to take responsibility for their health and their choices. And, as a result they are also inspiring people to do the same and the ripple effects of this has already begun and it can potentially change the world.

       1. Yes we will see more and more people understanding the power of the contribution the way we live has on our physical and mental health and the next step will be to understand why we use the behaviours to cope with life and what we are trying to avoid.

35. I used to be able to eat handfuls of seeds and feel fine but now I get mucous forming in my mouth and body very quickly. I could go on ignoring the discomfort this brings or just accept that my intake of seeds now is very limited and not really what my body needs. It seems we are forever changing and our bodies are telling us what supports us in these changes.

    1. It is awesome to listen to our body. It gives us these messages and sign for a reason and the best thing we can do is listen to it and care for our body the best we can. The more we listen to our body the more we realise it is often calling us to eat light and not overload it with anything it doesn’t need. Our body is highly intelligent isn’t it when we stop and listen?

36. I love that our bodies tell us exactly what is going on but feel so frustrated that our minds can justify, excuse or manipulate the messages so we don’t have to stop the behaviour that exacerbates the symptoms. I have fallen for the justification so many times!

    1. Me too Lucy and it sometimes feels like a battle between our mind and our body. And, it feels more like our mind is doing all the fighting.

37. Abusing our bodies with food; how easily we can be ‘sucked in’ to numbing and abusing with food. A beautiful reminder Chan Ly to listen and respond to the innate wisdom of our bodies, thank you for sharing your experiences and your wisdom.

    1. For many years, I did not see that it was possible to abuse my body with food because a part of me simply didn’t want to acknowledge this. It wasn’t until I was willing to be honest, connect to my body and listen to its messages that I realised how harmful and how much strain I put on my body whenever I chose to overeat or ate foods that made me feel dull, racy, disconnected and tired.

38. Isn’t it fascinating how quickly our body responds to the choices we make, as in after just one month of changing your diet you felt completely different, and your chemistry, exhaustion levels and health adjusted immediately.. This highlights that when we feel down and stuck in a frenzy of, ‘I feel tired all the time’, ‘I’m over the weight I’d like to be’, ‘my body isn’t doing too well’, the best thing to do is put ourselves on a program and just feel the changes of treating ourselves with more love, respect and care.

    1. Yes, I agree Susie. I find true change comes from our willingness to love, care, honour and respect our body, it doesn’t seem to work so well when we try to approach change from a mental perspective or apply discipline.

39. What is healthy? One persons’ interpretation of the word healthy can be very different to another’s but we take on beliefs and live by them and then find ourselves blaming either the media, system or another when we find out that those beliefs are not true for us. Eating food that supports me and my body is my own learning and unfolding. The food I eat is unique to me as to where I am at and is not because of a trend or something that another can advise me on. It is a constant refinement based on the connection to my body.

    1. Amazing Caroline, this is a great example of how we can take responsibility for our own health and choices. And, I agree the best guide ever is to connect to our body.

40. It is crazy that we compare ourselves with others in order to say “I am not as bad – so I must be okay”. The only true guide ever is our own body and we know it. In fact our choice to compare ourselves with a bad scenario to justify where we are, is a clear sign in itself that we are being dishonest about the awareness we already have that all is not okay.

    1. Great point Golnaz, it is super awesome to be aware of this, and I find any form of justification is always worth questioning. When we are open to being honest, we tend to not fall for justification and opting for honesty simply supports us to evolve.

41. I have found by not eating gluten and dairy, I feel much lighter in myself, I have more energy and my body always protests and let’s me know if there are other foods that don’t support it, the key is to listen to what your body knows.

    1. Yes, same here Sally. I find it is the most supportive to listen to my body and to be aware of how certain foods make me feel because this could change after a while depending on what our body communicates to us.

42. The word that comes up for me when reading your blog Chan Ly is responsibility. To understand that it is not 100% the responsibility of the medics or those in the health service to keep us disease free but also we have a huge part to play in our health and well being. And what usually happens when we do is far greater then we first imagined for we see improvements in many areas of our life.

    1. Brilliant comment Jane, I agree and it makes sense to me that responsibility is an important part of the equation for greater health. If it is missing, then things simply don’t add up and perhaps this may be the reason why our healthcare system is not coping with the increasing numbers of illness and disease.

43. I can totally relate to believing that I was not abusing my body because i didn’t do drugs, drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. But the truth is I compensated by abusing food. Whilst I didn’t think it directly, I was basically telling myself that I was better than others because I didn’t choose to ingest poison, and so believed that anything I ate was never going to be as bad and never considered that it was still a way of escaping. It’s so interesting how we manipulate the truth to justify our choices and how we measure and compare ourselves to others.

    1. Awesome sharing Elodie. I found when I started to truly understand what abuse means, I was able to identify many patterns and behaviours I had adopted that were abusive. With a deeper understanding and clarity, I was supported to let go of a lot of subtle forms of abuse in my life with ease. It is now very clear to me that anything that is not love is abuse.

44. How great it was that your doctor actually shared that the gestational diabetes was in part to do with the way you were eating then compared to how you ate when growing up, as in my experience there are few doctors who bring food into the health equation. In fact I have had several medical professionals scoff at the idea of removing products like gluten and dairy from my diet citing all sorts of medical reasons why this is a waste of time. Well like you Chan I have proved their advice to be lacking in common sense as by removing these products, sugar and a few other items I feel the best I have ever felt in my life; to me these life based results are true evidence based medicine.

    1. Our body certainly is the marker of all truth and where a doctors’ medical training might tell them one thing, the body might present another. Enquiring people, no matter what their profession pay attention to these moments, to understand what the body of the person who is presenting is trying to share.

    2. I agree Ingrid and I find it fascinating as I learn more about how our food and lifestyle choices affect us.

45. How many of us are under the illusion that they are healthy just because they are not sick?

    1. So true Suse, this is a great point and this highlights how far we as a society have dropped our standard in relation to the word ‘healthy’.

46. Great comment that we don’t just abuse ourselves with the traditional culprits like, alcohol, drugs and the like, but we can and do abuse ourselves with food, all the time. It is so much more socially acceptable, but one just has to look around and see the affects of food abuse. Our nation is not one of the fattest in the world, so what does that say about us, that we are choosing abuse over choosing love.

    1. It is great to be aware that abuse can come in many forms. For example, 100 years ago, if you told someone that they could use food to abuse their body they would probably think you are from another planet. It sounds crazy, but this is what is happening to many people world-wide, where food has become a form of addiction, where food is being used to self-abuse.

47. After overriding my body many times with food and going for things that did not make me feel great I have now started to see and use food as medicine, listening to my body. It feels good. Also I would fall into the trap of thinking how much food I needed when in truth the body does not need much.

    1. Awesome Vicky, and our body guides us as to how much to eat, when and what to eat. It is pretty easy and simple when we learn to listen to our body.

48. Very powerful sharing how what we perceive as healthy and unhealthy – drugs, alcohol, cigarettes is commonly known to have adverse effects not only on our bodies but society as a whole, although acceptable to an extent by society. Yet certain foods and types of foods also do not necessarily support our body especially if it appears healthy, we accept. Maybe our focus needs to be more on the ‘effect’ the substance we put into our body has on us and not only defining it first as healthy or not and then take it in. If we really want to take something because it gives us a so called ‘pay off’ then possibly we do not want to know about the adverse effects. We are all very wise and knowing, and if something feels right or wrong we sense it, but it’s a choice whether we want to respond to it or push it aside, dull it, and so forth.

    1. So true Karoline, we have the awareness and knowing but it doesn’t mean we always listen to our inner wisdom and knowing. How this plays out is different for everyone and our relationship with food also varies from person to person.

49. What an inspiring turnaround Chan. I love how you have come to the awareness that food and lifestyle are your medicine. This is something that is becoming more and more obvious to me as I listen to what Serge Benhayon presents. Life is medicine but it can also be poison if how we choose to live is not in accord to who we truly are and the love that lives within.

    1. Thank you Liane, I love what you’ve contributed here. It makes so much sense that ‘life is medicine’ and when we truly understand this, we would also understand where our illness and disease stems from.

50. It seems like the support you received from Universal Medicine and its practitioners was just what you needed to make those steps that you knew were right, or rather true, for you, and yet had not been able to make before on your own. It is amazing how much changing our diet can literally change our life and yet if we look at it scientifically, it absolutely makes sense and could not be any other way.

    1. That is correct Elaine, I would not have been able to make these changes in my life without the amazing support from Universal Medicine, the practitioners and the people I have met. They endlessly inspire me to embrace truth and love, to make life simple and to be willing to take responsibility for how I live.

51. Just yesterday I was having a conversation with someone and I realised that we can use food no different to drugs or alcohol to self-medicate and we can become addicted to food in the same way, and the impact is the same on our health and on everyone around us. However as a society we are yet to accept the fact that some foods are on a par with alcohol and smoking in terms of harm to health and harm to our relationships.

    1. I didn’t realise this until I was introduced to the teachings of Universal Medicine, because every choice we make can either heal or harm us, be it with food, relationships, work, exercise, etc. and every choice matters.

52. When reading your words it becomes so very clear how much we know what is good for us and what not, and as you describe we are often presented with things that we know are not a wise choice for us but we do it anyway. So allowing ourselves to listen to what we know is true is a great stepping stone in becoming more confident and strong in our choices.

    1. Yes, I agree Esther, what you’ve shared supports our body, supports how well we feel and our general health. Our body is our friend not our enemy and it always has our best interest at heart and it is worth listening to.

53. When we choose to listen and feel what our body is telling us then any food we eat that makes us feel heavy, listless, racy, tired etc is junk food.

    1. Our bodies are great at telling us what is good for us and what is not and it is always completely honest with us.

54. I find this article fascinating as in how a body that has been supported by food reacts more intensely to unsupportive foods. As it has a point of reference, a remembered clarity, that some foods just cannot support.

    1. Our bodies are incredibly wise but not so the reckless being within that seeks to override the universal wisdom contained in every particle, so as to take the human form on a joy ride through life. Our job here is to hand over the reins to the true self that lives and breathes within us all and who, by virtue of being love, moves in and with this love by taking the body with it and thus never moving out of accordance with this love, the Universal Order we belong to.

       1. Beautifully expressed Liane, I feel this is something not many people are yet aware of and many people may not be open to understand the wisdom you’ve shared but what you’ve delivered is the absolute truth of how amazing our bodies are.

    2. It is a matter of listening to our body because a certain food that doesn’t support one person may actually be very supportive for another person. This is why I feel listening to our body is so important, it requires an honest approach and with this we are more able to support our body on all levels. Also it is very important to nurture our body in a way that allows it to operate in its maximum capacity because anything less can compromise what our bodies can do, the multidimensional intelligence it can access can be blocked if we do not support our body to be clear, light and free of pollution.

55. It is a continual process of listening to our bodies to see which foods support us to feel light and vital, instead of eating to numb ourselves. ‘I had been using food for comfort to numb my hurts and to cover up the sadness I held in my body. I am now making loving choices, to listen to my body, to nurture and care for it.’

    1. It certainly is Lorraine. In the past I wasn’t aware I was using food to numb and bury all the things I didn’t want to feel. I remember I used to get very angry when I was hungry, I would be unapproachable in most instances and needed to eat before I felt functional and semi human. I thought it was just the way I was and I didn’t think it was anything abnormal. But now, it is so clear to me that my body was simply showing me I had a lot of pent up anger I hadn’t dealt with and it was surfacing at those times because my body was not numbed by food. It is an amazing revelation to understand what my body was telling me and now after years of healing layers of hurt, sadness and anger, when I am hungry, I feel steady, no panic and no anger. When I am hungry, I have a lovely feeling of knowing it is time to nourish my body and this feels very different to how I used to feel. It is amazing, what our body communicates to us.

56. I’d never considered how much heavier inside myself that I was as a result of eating Gluten and Dairy until I had given it up. Having made the leap, it is amazing to me how much energy I have, but also I’m more sensitive which opens up a whole world of feeling that was otherwise closed off just from the way I was eating.

    1. I know, same here Simon. If I were to eat gluten and dairy now I think I would not be able to move from feeling tired and heavy. It would feel like a lead weight inside my stomach and body.

57. “I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food.” It is rather crazy when you stop and think about it – instead of using food for its intended purpose ie to nourish ourselves we tend to over-eat and suffer the consequences.

    1. I know, it is pretty crazy isn’t it? I don’t think there are many animals in nature that would eat for comfort, they seem to eat when it is needed and eat when they are hungry. I reckon overeating is a condition that could potentially harm us in more ways than we think.

58. Chan thankyou, I feel that the bar for “healthy” for our own body could be ever changing, as the more we become attuned to and sensitive to our body’s messages, the more we can become aware of what is truly nurturing and supportive for our body and what is not. In this I feel that we may never reach a level of “this is it, switch off now as I’ve mastered the right diet for me”. It’s more loving to be connected continually to ourselves and constantly open to the communication from our body.

    1. Beautifully expressed Melinda and I love what you’ve shared. I absolutely agree, there are always opportunities to deepen our level of care, love and willingness to listen to our body. And yes, there is no stop point to loving ourselves and our body more and more.

59. We can be inspired by others but in the end it is always up to each one of us to choose to make changes in our lives that are more supportive, loving and healing.

    1. I agree Aimee, in my experience it was great and very supportive to have the inspiration and meet people who were deeply caring and loving towards themselves and who were truly living a healthy life. After seeing what true health looks like, it was unmistakable that I was not living that myself and I was ready to change because I didn’t want to continue to feel exhausted, lacking vitality and joy.

60. “I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food.”
    Chan, wow, imagine the changes in the health of society if this sentence was read, heard, understood and addressed.

    1. I know Leigh, it is huge isn’t it to understand what we are doing to our body, our health and our mental state when we use food as a form of abuse. It seems that we as a race are very good at turning many things into a form of addiction. When we overeat and eat foods that don’t support our body it hurts us and it put a huge strain on our body.

61. How confirming that you knew what your body was asking you to do to heal. We do know, we just struggle to listen and implement most of the time.

    1. Our bodies are amazing aren’t they? And, I feel the only reason I struggled to listen to my body in the past with certain things was because I didn’t want to give up or change my habits and patterns that were giving me a sense of comfort. But in truth it was very uncomfortable to feel tired, lethargic, grumpy and exhausted all the time. But the comfort I was referring to was only momentary but never lasting. Now, I feel amazing and it is so much more comfortable to feel vital and energised. This is lasting for years and it just keeps getting better and better, as I commit to listening to my body more and more.

62. Wow, it’s amazing how Universal Medicine has the ability to connect with people from all different countries – and walks of life – and supports them to do what they know is true for them. Before Universal Medicine I was a heavy drinker, drug user and smoker – I knew I didn’t want to live that way and did make some half hearted attempts to stop but they never worked. After meeting Serge Benhayon and going to workshops, it was like I was actually free to follow through with all the things I wanted to do but never had the will to do before.

    1. That is amazing Sarah, I can imagine a lot of people have been through what you’ve shared. Often I hear people say they want to quit smoking because they know it is not good for them but they often struggle to fully give it up. So, what is it about your experience with Universal Medicine that supported you in such a positive and amazing way?

63. Although we all know from experience that certain foods are addictive (and we are very adept at choosing the ‘drug’ we need at any one stressful point in time), we do not as a general rule consider enough how it affects the way we feel – on an over all well being level. Foods that dull us down, speed us up or numb us out all alter our state of being and so it is far more common to live below par rather than the light, energised and productive way your days became Chan, when you cut out gluten, dairy, caffeine and refined sugar.

    1. Great comment Rosanna. When I go shopping, I find the food aisles predominately have these heavy, dulling and numbing ingredients in them that I cannot eat. I notice I can now walk past so many aisles without stopping because I wouldn’t choose to eat around 95% of the foods displayed on the shelves because they are loaded with sugar, salt, gluten and dairy. But I am also starting to see more and more gluten and dairy free options which were not available a few years ago. I reckon people are becoming more and more aware about their food choices and are more open to making loving choices around food.

       1. I love skipping past (not literally ;)) so many isles, it makes shopping super simple doesn’t it?!

64. “I cried, not because I was afraid of having gestational diabetes, but because I was disappointed and felt extremely sad that my body wasn’t coping with the pregnancy. I thought I was healthy and well, but now my body was telling me something different.” This is a huge thing for everyone I guess, the being exposed for not getting away with anything that is not supportive of our bodies even though we would like to. In the end it is not a curse but a true blessing that our bodies are so honestly saying we deserve more care and love than we are giving ourselves.

    1. So true Lieke, and we only think of illness and diseases as a curse when we are not open to appreciate what our body is communicating to us and what it is in fact clearing is the loveless ways we have been living and expressing.

65. just to consider that all of humanity… Everyone… Everyone’s bodies, are constantly sending messages information, read outs that are always saying this is the path to health, this is the path to well-being, and this is what you must do… And then to consider the depth of deafness to these messages that is so obvious in this world now.

    1. It is incredible to consider how these messages are constantly being emitted and communicated to us. The thing is, it is always our choice to listen or not, but regardless of our choices our body never stops communicating to us, and how loving is that?

66. Thank you Chan, for sharing your experience of just how huge the impact can be on our bodies from eating particular foods, even some that are generally accepted as ‘healthy’. Instead of listening to our bodies when they begin to show us signs that we are unwell, it is commonplace that our first reaction is to look for a quick fix – we do not want to accept responsibility by looking at the true cause.

    1. There are a lot of foods that are deemed as healthy for us and we tend to go by what we have been told is good or bad for us from books, various diet trends and the food pyramid etc. often without checking in with our body. I used to eat certain foods because I was told they were good for me but when I stop to listen to my body it tells me something opposite. So, I have now been consistently listening to my body when it comes to what foods to eat. This has made a huge difference to my health, my vitality levels have increased and has also improved how I feel in general.

67. It does feel like our bodies are giving us big signs, but somehow we don’t choose to listen, we choose to leave ourselves, for not being our true selves and thus not taking the responsibility that comes with that, but choose to numb ourselves. Our body shows and we know, it is only taking the choice to listen to this knowing.

    1. I found it was very difficult to listen to my body when I was not willing to be self-loving. It was through committing to being more self-loving that it was so much easier to listen to my body and then I started discard things that were not supportive. I find without self-love it can be pretty difficult to give up any form of addiction.

68. I didn’t change my diet by any illness, but I can relate to the benefits of giving up gluten, dairy, sugar, alcohol and caffeine. I feel more vital, energised and clear.

    1. There are huge benefits and now that I have experienced them, there is no way I would want to resort back to my old way of eating. Like you Amparo, I too feel so much more vital, clear and lighter in my body. It is amazing what a different this makes, when we lovingly nurture our body by feeding it with quality food.

69. Again another example of how food is far and above just something that keeps us going, that ticks the boxes so to speak, but it is something that has an enormous influence on us, and our well-being both physical, energetic, and psychological.

    1. I agree Cjames2012. Food is something we put into our body, it is one source of fuel for our body, so it makes sense that what we eat would affect us. For example, when I put poor quality fuel into my car, it will not run smoothly or efficiently. This would apply to our body too, so why would we consider putting poor quality fuel into our body?

70. It is always wonderful to read of someone who proclaims that they are taking responsibiltiy for their health. It is actually quite rare to hear someone say that and makes me wonder why? Why would we not all want to shape the health we have, there are of course many answers to that question but one that it is worth us all pondering on, becaus as a society that doesn’t seem to value how healthy we could be if we started to say no to all the things we know doesn’t support vitality.

    1. I wonder if our society is somewhat complacent in taking responsibility for our health because we tend to think that we have many fix it solutions available to us, for example we have modern medicine, pharmaceutical, herbal medicine etc. for fixing health problems, but are we then using them to support our healing or are we using them as band aid solutions?

71. What a great stop Chan, food and lifestyle make up a big part of our health, well-being and vitality. Only through the energetic sciences (Universal Medicine) was I able to heal, and continue to heal, and understand how my own poor choices of food and lifestyle affect what the body can innately tell me and always told me — the answers to life. Food and lifestyle based on junk and disregard to the body is greatly detrimental to not living the potential of love that you are.

    1. Awesome Rik that you have embraced this level of healing. Our food and lifestyle choices does affect our quality of life. On a deeper level, even when we overeat so called healthy food, this can also affects us in a negative way. In my experience, when I overeat, I can now feel it has the same effects as when I used to eat junk food. I feel heavy, dull, disconnected, easily irritated and not myself, this is an amazing marker of how every choice we make that is not loving, our body will communicate this to us instantly. The intelligence of our body is always calling us to take a deeper level of responsibility whenever we are ready to hear it.

72. I’d love to find out chanly88.

73. Absolutely Richard. Our body is so intelligent, honest and like you shared, always delivers truth to us. What would this look like if everyone in the world started to truly listen, care, love and honour their body? I could see that illness and disease would be reduced, people become more harmonious and vital.

74. Interesting that when I gave up smoking which is a long time ago now, I still had dreams in which I smoked. I never smoked very much but a lot more than my body would have liked. It was several years after having given up cigarettes that I was totally free of that habit on all levels, of that consciousness.

    1. That is very interesting Elaine. I used to have dreams of smoking when I was a teenager because a lot of my friends smoked and I was the only one who didn’t smoke in this groups of friends. At some level I wanted to join them so I didn’t feel different but I didn’t want to harm or pollute my body as I knew how bad it was to smoke. These dreams kept repeating until I finally realised I didn’t have to change who I am to be accepted.

75. When I gave up drinking alcohol almost ten years ago I had a surprise. I still woke up with hangovers – even though I wasn’t drinking. It then because clear to me that the way I was eating was also causing me to feel hungover the following morning. In fact, these days, with the greater awareness I have since attending Universal Medicine courses and workshops, I’d say that even the way I have lived the previous day can lead to feeling hungover. Refining my diet, which at one time was pretty bad, has supported me to feel much lighter both physically and energetically. It has also revealed how much I used food to change how I was feeling – or to try to not feel, as you say chanly88. Thank you for your blog.

    1. Amazing Richard, it is so interesting the symptoms you got after quitting alcohol. It really shows how much we can numb our body with food and alcohol and don’t always connect to the reasons why we feel so exhausted until we see it so clearly for ourselves by learning to become more aware, self loving and nurturing. With more awareness we can then connect the dots and realise that the way we choose to live is what is causing us to be so exhausted, like the hungover feeling you describe Richard. It is incredible and inspiring to read your experience. Thank you

76. I agree Shirley, by listening to our body I feel is our best guide to determine our own state of health, instead of comparing ourselves to what other people are doing or how they are living. We are ultimately the ones who best knows our own health by being aware and more connected to our body. Everything else outside of us are available for supporting us, but it is ultimately up to us to take responsibility for our own health.

77. I absolutely agree Linda. I have experienced this more and more, by listening to my body, it is the best guide to what food to eat and also my body is the best guide for discerning truth. We all have this ability. It is a matter of choosing to use our innate gift or not, of being able to read energy.

78. That is awesome Sally, when we choose to eat from a loving intention to nurture our body, it responds very quickly.

79. “By listening to my body I am constantly readjusting to what it needs to feel lighter, energised and vital.” Food like every thing else is a responsibility in constantly looking at and refining our food choices. It is a commitment but sometimes I can feel stagnant making excuses to not address what is going on in my body and placing convenience before self love. Reading blogs like this one reminds me of what is truly important… my responsibility to self and that includes my food choices.

    1. Awesome Caroline, it certainly is very important to take responsibility for ourselves, especially with regards to our body and from here it flows out to others too, because when we are feeling amazing we inspire people to make more loving choices too.

80. The more loving I become the more my definition of abuse changes. In the past I might have considered getting drunk or eating a huge bowl of ice cream as something that harmed my body. These days sending an email in reaction would feel even worse.

    1. Yes, totally agree Nicola, once we begin choosing to make some changes in our lives, and discover more loving ways to live, the definition and what constitutes ‘abuse’ changes.

    2. By building our awareness and by being more loving with ourselves we begin to see and feel with more clarity, and from this foundation we are then able to discern what is loving and what is not. Our definition of what is abuse becomes clearer and more obvious so we can learn from our choices.

    3. Yes Shirley, I totally agree. I have started to recognise what is actually abuse. It doesn’t have to be just limited to domestic avoidance, bullying etc. but it can be very subtle everyday interactions we have with others and ourselves that are not in anyway loving or supportive. So, no matter how big or small, abuse can be felt deeply if we become truly honest about what is abuse.

81. For years and years and years I tried to diet and eat the right food because I knew in my head that what I was eating was not supporting me but it never worked. I would lose weight only to gain it again in that endless yoyo. All that changed when I met Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine in 2004. In meeting Serge, I met myself on a level I never had before. This changed everything including my entire relationship with food. I had experienced something really gorgeous (me) and so didn’t want to eat in such a way as to disconnect myself from that. To give up poisoning myself as a ‘should’ never worked, doing it as a loving choice was very simple and just happened naturally.

    1. Beautiful Nicola, I also realised that any time I make choices out of I ‘should’ which has happened very often in the past. This was never really supportive, lasting or of high quality. Now, learning to make more loving choices, feels completely different. I totally agree, it is ‘simple and just happened naturally’. It is incredible and being aware of the difference makes it easier to make wiser choices that encompasses self-love.

    2. This is lovely Nicola Lessing. I especially appreciate the ‘I met myself on a level I had never before’ and can so relate to this. There is something absolutely amazing about truly meeting ourselves, revealing a preciousness that is so supportive of these loving choices – which as you say, ‘just happen naturally’.

       1. I agree Richard and one of the very beautiful things about truly meeting ourselves is that in that we meet everyone else too as we are all of the same essence.

       2. Yes agreed – it is a glorious opening of our hearts to other people too. What a wonderful thing.

82. Our bodies have the ability to reveal so much of how we live and choices we make. I like to think I get away with “little sneaky no one will notice” choices but it is pretty obvious to my family when I get cranky because I have eaten more sugar than I need.

    1. Our body never lies, it always reveals our every choice, even ones we think we can get away with, it brings us back to taking more responsibility, constantly reminding us really.

       1. It is not a great feeling when you realise you have been ignoring what are sometimes very obvious symptoms of exhaustion and disregard.

       2. Yes, I agree Nicole it is not a great feeling but when we do feel this way and realise what we have chosen it is never too late to add self-love and gentleness back in with more awareness sprinkled on top.

83. Our diet can be so abusive when we choose to not honour what our body truly needs. Knowing what it needs is a great thing to feel light and vibrant.

    1. I agree Benkt and it is with massive thanks to the amazing support and teachings of Universal Medicine that I started to trust what my body was telling me and learned to be more aware, listen to and honour my body.

84. I totally agree Gill, we are so quick to write things off for reasons that offer an explanation but leave out the whole answer. We leave out the bit that asks us to take responsibility a lot of the time.

    1. I can relate to this Toni but why do we avoid responsibility? Is it because it means we may have to give up doing some of the things we love in life like our favorite food that is actually poisonous to our body or an activity we love and addicted to but is damaging our body? Many people are simply not willing to take responsibility for ourselves and our body because we enjoy and attached to a life of comforts.

85. I think as a society we think we know what a healthy diet is, but one walk through the health food isle at the grocery shop shows we have no idea what is truly healthy. I too thought I had a relatively healthy diet because I crossed the T’s and dotted the I’s on what nutritionists recommended. But slowly I have come to realise everyone’s “healthy” diet varies and it also varies over time as we change how we live. So what may be healthy and optimal with me and food could be the complete opposite for someone else. There are no books that can direct us as to what is a healthy diet for us individually. The only guide we have that is true for us specifically is our own body.

    1. Absolutely Tonisteenson, your comment totally empowers people to be their own health guide, by listening to our body. I feel there are no books or health programs out there that can know our own body more intimately than ourselves.

86. That’s so true Gill, I realised I was comparing myself with how other people were living trying to convince myself I wasn’t doing all that bad health wise because I didn’t choose the more obvious harmful foods or substances. But in reality my body had been telling me for a long time what I was choosing was simply not loving, it may seem loving to others but to my body it was not. So this taught me that the best guide is to follow my body’s messages, like you said, it never lies. Always trust what my body is telling me.

    1. We can be judgemental and impose what we think is healthy but what may be healthy for one may not be healthy for another. The more open and honest with others about my food choices the easier it is getting. I used to hold back and feel extremely uncomfortable when talking about food but now I am learning to be much more accepting of my food choices. It is so loving to eat the foods that support my body rather than to eat food to ‘fit in’ for fear of being judged.

    2. Awesome Caroline, it takes a lot of self-love to come to this acceptance. It is so, beautiful to read your comment. It reminds me to do the same. I should always claim how much I honour and love my body instead of holding this back and even apologising for my food choices.

87. I love your comment Sylva, this is so true. The stop that is required before we start to look at another way. It is different for us all, but a true blessing.

88. Great sharing Chan Ly. So many of us think we are eating healthy and get lost in what the advertising says about particular foods. Even health professionals can claim a product to be something that it is not. What this shows me is that we really need to listen to our own bodies when it comes to our diet, we cannot go off what another says about a certain food being healthy or not, because from my own experience, there are plenty of foods out there that are healthy by nutrition panel status, I cannot fault them, and yet, for my body they simply do not work. They might leave me feeling bloated or heavy, or lethargic maybe. I found it really interesting reading about your Gestational Diabetes, and I couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t something deeper to this than just your food choices? If everything is energy, perhaps it was your body’s way of telling you you were so much more than what you were choosing for yourself back then?

    1. Great comment Anna, Thank you. Yes, I have wondered about this myself, what is the energetic reason behind developing Gestational Diabetes. I feel that I was simply not choosing to live the love and truth that my body was asking me to and I was afraid to live and express the joy I felt deep within.

       1. That is awesome Chan Ly. Imagine if we all were able to understand and accept our bodies ills in this way as you have. Then we can adhere to the messages.

89. This is a truly informative sharing Chan. Sugar, gluten and dairy are often overlooked in pregnancy and in our diet in generally. Gestational Diabetes would have gone undetected in the past but with the tests done now and information available to us all this should be a thing of the past.

    1. I agree Roslyn but I think Gestational Diabetes is now more common than before. The tests and information available are great and very supportive but the key I feel to resolving these lifestyle illnesses is to cure our lifestyle itself. The way many people are living and treating their body is actually creating a lot of harm. I feel by choosing a different way to live, work and look after ourselves will reduce our rate of illness and disease for sure. Universal Medicine have certainly inspired me to live in a more loving way that is in a deeper connection with my body and my rhythm.

       1. I agree Chanly88, life style change is the answer, although this is very hard to achieve unless one is willing to look at why they made the ill lifestyle choices to begin with. Otherwise it is an uphill battle, one that is not often won.

       2. That’s right Toni. I have experienced this myself. trying to give harmful habits up but it never really worked until I address why I chose them in the first place. To go deeper than the surface to understand my own behaviours, the details and the whys.

90. Your words remind me Chan how we still often hear a diagnosis of illness as a sentence or condemnation, punishing us. We think we have done wrong or been bad in some way. But the truth is our body is just sending us a loving message that there is more light, more ease and more joy on offer for us to live today. How different would our world be if we reversed our ideas of what disease means. We would probably all get jealous when illness arose!

    1. Thank you Joseph. It’s amazing how our body works, when we ignore its loving message too often it will eventually make us stop and listen. It doesn’t hide or pretend everything is OK when it is not, it is always honest and a reflection of all our choices.

       1. ‘But the truth is our body is just sending us a loving message that there is more light, more ease and more joy on offer for us to live today’. So true Joseph, I have really been coming to see life in this way lately and it truly changes everything.

    2. Beautifully said Joseph Barker. I have certainly been of the mind that to get ill is a failure in life. Seeing illness as a ‘loving message’ feels so much more true and honouring of ourselves. It also facilitates the attitude that we can embrace being ill rather than feel the need to fight it off.

91. Gluten, Dairy and Sugar free seems to work wonders, thanks Chan

    1. Yes, it’s absolutely brilliant Joe. Your comment reminded me of when I once thought I couldn’t live without Gluten, Dairy and Sugar. Now, I feel am I actually truly living, living a more vital, joyful and healthier life. Funny to reflect how my mind made things seem impossible when in truth love makes everything possible.

92. It is amazing to read how your diet influenced your body so much. In a way I feel we all know that many currently accepted foods are not healthy at all for our body, even when used in moderation or occasionally. It shows as well in the many cases of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Your blog is a real testimony to the influence of these foods on our bodies and also that we can turn it around when we choose to.

    1. Yes, our bodies are incredibility amazing. This is why we should all cherish it in every way possible, it is our tool to life.

       1. I agree our bodies are incredibly amazing! To also consider what they put up with every day… What I most love about our bodies is the truthfulness of them, they cannot lie, when a food is not good for the body it will let you know. You can ignore it but eventually it will stop you in some way with an illness or disease.

93. It is beautiful to be able to feel/hear the body’s messages, as they are constant, whether we hear them loudly or not depends on how clear we are, how honest we are, how willing we are to listen. Whether we honor what we have heard is a whole different story of responsiiblity and dropping of our arrogance and ignorance. There is no fitting into the world when we truly heed the messages of the body and the heart, as what the world has made normal today is absolutely abusive and unnatural to the body, what life is made to be today is in truth slow suicide, and why would we ever want to fit into that?

    1. Brilliant comment Adele, I love what you’ve shared. I feel it’s loving and evolving to listen to our body. I absolutely agree, trying to fit into society’s ‘normal’ doesn’t work, slow suicide indeed, but choosing to fit into our own body by listening with our innate knowing is the key to living a joyful, vibrant and soulful life.

94. Amazing blog Chan Ly. “By listening to my body I am constantly readjusting to what it needs to feel lighter, energised and vital.” I am not doing this anywhere near as much as I might. Thank you for this truly supportive and inspiring blog.

    1. Our body is amazingly intelligent, sensitive, responsive, sacred and divine. Learning to listen to it more and more we begin to appreciate how blessed we are to be in our body, lovingly guiding us through life.

95. This is a beautiful account of the power of Sacred Esoteric Healing (SEH). Everybody knows how hard it can be to give up certain foods and especially gluten, dairy and sugar – for some it seems impossible. SEH supports us in addressing the root causes, why we crave these foods in the first place and once we start to let go of the hurts we carry, the need to numb ourselves becomes less, which makes it a lot easier to let go of these foods, as these crutches to get us by are just not needed anymore.

    1. Spot on Judith. I certainly felt it was impossible to give up those foods prior to attending Sacred Esoteric Healing and Universal Medicine courses, even though I had already felt they were not supportive for my health or my body. Not only with my food choice but since I have been attending Sacred Esoteric Healing courses I have learnt to let go of many, many unsupportive behaviours that I thought was impossible to change or let go of too.

       1. The courses offered by Universal Medicine are profound in this way. There are a lot of modalities out there that offer relief and better functionality, but as a modality that offers true healing, in the sense that I am able to make different choices in my life, it is quite unique.

96. Yes I agree Gill, our body is constantly showing us our every choice. It never holds back in telling us what we need to change or stop doing to abuse it. If we listen and take note we can lovingly and gently care for it the best we can for it to function to its full capacity.

97. By choosing to take care of ourselves and our bodies and connect to our hearts and the love we find inside, it’s extremely powerful and honouring, not only for ourselves but to all of humanity. It is a powerful reflection that others can choose to do the same, this is the seed of true change that is so badly needed in the world, the change coming from the individuals, that make up the humanity that we all live in.

    1. Brilliant comment Thomas, very inspiring and empowering to read. Thank you.

       1. Absolutely Thomas, ‘By choosing to take care of ourselves and our bodies and connect to our hearts and the love we find inside, it’s extremely powerful and honouring, not only for ourselves but to all of humanity.’

98. “On New Year’s Day 2013, I decided to try something for myself, I wanted to see how my body felt by cutting out gluten, dairy, caffeine and refined sugar.”
    What I find extraordinary and amazing Chan is how you decided to cut these foods out of your diet and simply did it, without having to stick to a strict diet or discipline.
    When we choose to connect deeply to our bodies and what they are telling us as to what they need, building self care and love, it has been my experience that anything that is not in alignment or is unsupportive or harming to our bodies simply drops away without effort, or battling to give something up.

    1. Thank you Thomas, your comment has brought a huge appreciation and realisation around how easy it is to make these loving choices simply because I have learnt to embrace self-care and self-love. Without this I would not have considered letting go of these old harmful patterns and behaviours or I would not have been able to stay consistent with my choices. The ease and effortlessness comes from choosing simplicity, self-love, self care and self-nurture.

99. “Two years ago I would never have dream’t I would be able to function getting up and starting my day at 3 or 4am, let alone feeling alert and energised that time of the morning.” Reading this Chan made me appreciate and reflect upon my own life a few years ago, and the massive changes I have made, and how this rhythm of going to bed early and getting up at 3 or 4am is the new normal for many of the students of Universal Medicine, and how vital and healthy we are.

    1. Yes, I totally agree Thomas. We can certainly feel the difference when we make loving choices to honour our body and our rhythm by going to bed early and rising early. I have met a few people who are shocked that I am able to function at that time of the morning, because for many people this is not something they would not have considered possible. I was like that two years ago. By openly sharing we can inspire others to know that they can choose to make loving choices too, to honour their body and their natural rhythm.

100. “I am learning to reconnect to the amazing woman that I am, to express love and truth in everything that I do. To not hold back any more, but to express who I am every day.” This sentence was an absolute joy to read Chan, and to feel the power and inspiration of you claiming this for yourself, and by doing so inspiring us all that we can also do the same.

     1. Thank you Thomas for your beautiful comment. From reading everyone’s comments have inspired me deeply too. I am loving and appreciating what everyone is sharing.

101. “By listening to my body I am constantly readjusting to what it needs to feel lighter, energised and vital.” There are so many different trains of thought and theories abound that say what is and isn’t healthy for us but our body surely is our greatest marker of what food truly nourishes us.

     1. Absolutely Fiona, how amazing is our body? It is certainly our best guide of all to what foods to eat, what to avoid and what truly nourishes us.

102. The one thing that I really love and want to celebrate here Chan is your honesty and your sharing by writing this blog. When I first met you, there was no way you would write and today you shine in your expression for all to see and be inspired by.
     I just love when people don’t hold back their experiences and stories. We all have so much to share with each other and we are all writers as we all have a story. Real life stories without any hype. Ones that leave the reader with something to ponder on and consider. Thank you.

     1. Thank you Rosie and for reminding me to celebrate how far I have come. Yes, I was certainly previously hiding expressing myself, thinking what I had to share was not good enough but now I have stepped out of that game of playing inadequate and started to fully expressing myself more and more. By me choosing to honestly and openly share my stories and experiences inspires others to do the same. We then learning and inspire each other greatly and learn that what we experience are often very similar. I too have been inspired and learnt a lot from reading people’s comments. This is an awesome forum to discuss about real life topics, issues that can potentially our change lives.

        1. yes, like fertiliser or sunshine, one bit of inspiration can support a woman to grow into a beautiful self loving woman just as the fertiliser and sun will support a seed to grow into a tree.

103. Chan, it is beautiful to read your blog. Having known you for about 6 years and having witnessed the changes to diet and lifestyle that you have made has been awesome. I remember the days when we would over eat together, and eat more then the men and think we were cool because we could! We were actually identified by how much we could over eat. How crazy and abusive is that.

     1. Yes, I remember this very clearly Rosie as it was not that long ago I was overeating convincing myself that it was OK because I was eating healthy food and I wouldn’t put on extra weight. I agree it was crazy and abusive to overeat but I didn’t even want to acknowledge that it was at the time. I was able to feel the discomfort in my body but override it so I could eat some more. But now that I have accepted the truth of how abuse can come in different forms not just the extreme ones but it can be in our every day choices. Any choices that we make that are not loving is simply abuse.

        1. Yes, there is no half abuse, there is or there isn’t abuse and that is it.

104. I had never heard of gestational diabetes before. Thank you for opening my eyes.

     1. I never heard of it before too until I was diagnosed with it. Experiencing it definitely opened my eyes and in realising my body wasn’t doing as well as I thought due to my past choices. It was like a wake up call, really asking me to be honest about the state of my body, how I was treating it and what I could choose to nurse it back to its true health. I didn’t start making more loving choices until I started attending Universal Medicine, inspiring me everyday in every way.

105. Thank you Gill for your loving and confirming comment. With much appreciation and thanks for your inspiration too, I feel deeply supported.

106. Your blog is such a beautiful read Chan; so gorgeous that your body resonated with the lessons Serge Benhayon presented and further still you listened and responded to what your body presented. Indeed a brilliant example and inspiration for us all.

     1. Thank you Shirl, from reading your comment and many others have inspired me to continue to listen to my body and honour what it is constantly showing me. I love that we are all inspiring each other with what we have experience and our willingness to openly share. Very gorgeous.

        1. Yes I agree, I love reading the comments and the inspiration that comes when we share with each other openly. At times I feel that I know all these people who are commenting because we have interacted and connected in some way even though I know that some of them are on the other side of the world. It really goes to show that it doesn’t matter where we are, we are all connected.

107. I love how you have dispelled the myth that the only way we can abuse our bodies is through alcohol, drugs and smoking. Your body was very clear in letting you know that the way you were eating was in fact abuse. I wonder how many other people do not listen to their bodies because they too think that the way that they live is ‘normal’ or the same as everyone else?

     1. This is a great question Penelope, I can imagine a lot of people use the excuse of ‘normal’ to abuse themselves and others. I too have done this in the past and it is through the teachings of Universal Medicine that I realised what ‘abuse’ really means. It is not only the extreme news worthy harmful abusive acts but the everyday insidious and seemingly trivial harmful acts that we let pass as ‘normal’ and therefore acceptable. When in fact any abuse is absolutely not acceptable in any way, shape or form, regardless of the degree or intensity.

        1. Chan in the past there was too much fitting in and not enough discerning when it came to my actions and way of living, I was not prepared to stand up and stand out in responding to the clear messages I knew to be true. I gave into all the comfortable, acceptable ways of doing life. Now to know this as abuse is quite a revelation, but my awareness has also bought me to a point of responsibility ” To not hold back anymore, but to express who I am every day.” A simple statement but one that has such an ever expanding and deepening relationship to the way I relate and live my life now.

108. There is a common belief that if we tick the boxes of a moderate and typical diet and exercise in the prescribed way this is all we need do to protect ourselves from illness and disease, believing that if we tick this boxes and get ill then it is random or ‘bad luck’. I had this exact conversation recently with someone in recovery from cancer who shared ‘well what more can you do.’ I don’t suggest going gluten and dairy free will protect anyone from disease but perhaps it isn’t such a silly thing to do considering how well Chan Ly and others on this thread, myself included, feel as a result of this particular lifestyle change.

     1. Thank you Deanne. I feel our health is linked to everything we choose and everything that is around us. Food, exercise and many things can contribute to our state of health and therefore how we choose to live in every aspect of our life affect us. Lifestyle choices is a large contributing factor but also I have come to understand that our thoughts and behaviours also affects us and others too. The best protection from illness and disease for me is to take responsibility for all aspects of my life.

     2. That is very true the belief you speak of here Deanne. We have yet to burst open our understanding as a greater race of beings that everything is energy and therefore it is all our choices that impact the body and that illness and disease are merely the corrections to show us where we are otherwise not living a true way. Great comment.

109. Eating disorders and addictive behaviour around food have skyrocketed over the last decade or two. Our relationship with food is one of the great opportunities to master life and one of the great gateways to self-abuse – we choose.

     1. I agree Matilda, the choice is always ours. To choose love or abuse?

     2. So true Matilda. People do not know how to deal with what is presented to them in life and food is the legal, most accessible distraction and numbing agent we have. I understand why people find it so difficult to give up good like sugar, gluten and dairy when they know they are not supporting the body – these foods are a temporary antidote to life. Each mouthful promises to take the edge off for a short time.

        Hence, the only way to make lasting changes to the way we eat, is to learn how to bring ourselves to life and learn to deal with life rather than being affected by it.

     3. ‘Our relationship with food is one of the great opportunities to master life and one of the great gateways to self-abuse – we choose.’ So well put Matilda. I certainly find this is the case. I can either strengthen my relationship with love and my will through food, or choose to self abuse. It can these days be a fine line. Great point to bring up.

     4. As always well said Matilda, “Eating disorders and addictive behaviour around food have skyrocketed over the last decade or two. Our relationship with food is one of the great opportunities to master life and one of the great gateways to self-abuse – we choose.”

110. As I listen more to my body I am learning to feel more and more love in it. The deepening connection to myself is beautiful; even if I choose to ignore the messages at times, to learn not to self-bash is important, as the increased love from the connection built with myself supports the more loving choices in my day to day living.

     1. This is gorgeous Ginadunlop, our body resonates love and when we connect to it this is what we can feel.

     2. Hear Hear Gina, I am re-learning to listen to my body and more importantly to self honour. I sometimes go a few steps and then a few more back, or to the side, or wherever. So totally understand that in this process, never to self-base, that this is a learning and that what is presented, is usually perfectly constellated for my own development.

        1. I just love your honesty here Raegan absolutely beautiful and inspiring.

     3. So true ginadunlop “to learn not to self-bash is important”. I am learning not to beat myself up when I don’t listen to my body and find appreciation is key here. More and more I am appreciating my connection with myself and the support I have in my life.

        1. Appreciation should be compulsory at school Margaret! Imagine having it as a subject all on its own – how the world would be a greater place.

        2. Yes ginadunlop imagine the difference it would make even if it the class spent 10 minutes a day on appreciation they would then take it home with them out into their families and the community especially if they started in pre right through school.

        3. This is an awesome reminder for me to appreciate more and more of myself and others.

        4. Appreciation is something I constantly need to reminded myself of, otherwise I slip into looking for the things I need to “fix”. When I appreciate just how far I have come, my hurts dissolve and there is nothing to fix.

        5. Beautiful Margaret, what an awesome way to help discard our hurts, appreciate, appreciate and appreciate.

     4. Gina this is really gorgeous to read. From reading this blog and all these amazing comments I’m feeling how I’ve been missing out on my body and me and how my body is a body of love which can be trusted 100million %.

        1. Ah, the magic word – trust. This so helps me to surrender more to myself and what my body has to share with me.

        2. I know Karin, I feel the same and also trust my body the same way too.

     5. Wow Gina who would have thought food had a connection with mental health. Your previous comment talking about how food impacts on your thoughts is huge. I remember hearing someone saying to another “if you eat that, that is your next fight with you partner”. How many of us are willing to take responsibility to that level.

        1. “If you eat that, that is your next fight with your partner.” That’s powerful Laura. And true. I know it but boy, at times, I still don’t want to hear it.

     6. So well said Shirley-Ann – the self-bashing can be more harmful than the food choice. Self-bashing as a default human behaviour should be made aware to all students when they start school. To arrest this behaviour would change the world as we know it today.

111. The realisation that we override and dismiss so many of our body’s signs is really powerful – actually having an ear for our bodies is life changing. When our bodies talk we cannot pretend – we can either listen or ignore…

     1. So true Matilda; I have been feeling how huge my urges are to overeat at the moment and although I am aware this is my body telling me something, I can still choose to override listening. However, the other day I was super honest, and when I was feeling compelled to eat when I knew I was not at all hungry, I asked myself, what is it you are actually trying to fill? And my body immediately responded – it was my being that felt empty and not my stomach. I was filling the emptiness of my being – but by eating, I was overriding that feeling.

        1. I felt the profoundness of what you shared Gina, I often over eat to not feel the disconnection I have with myself, or that I have been running the whole day with a tension or anxiety, and when I stop to eat at night, rather than stop, feel and nominate what I’m feeling, I try to dull the feeling by stuffing myself with too much food. The time when I feel my body and how lovely it is, I naturally don’t want to lose that feeling, so I don’t overeat.

        2. Indeed Thomas – I hear you. Currently I am feeling my exhaustion and this is really ‘fuelling’ overeating. I am finding this then disconnects me further from myself, and feelings of self doubt creep in. Food is huge!

        3. Wow Ginadunlop this is very powerful. I can totally relate to over eating as I have previously done this a lot. Asking ourselves this question, ‘what is it you are actually trying to fill?’ is definitely being super, super honest and to come to this realisation that you’ve shared is amazing….’it was my being that felt empty and not my stomach’. I am going to try this next time I have the urge to eat when I am not even hungry.

        4. I recognise this one, it is like we have two appetites, ‘I knew I was not at all hungry, I asked myself, what is it you are actually trying to fill? And my body immediately responded – it was my being that felt empty and not my stomach. I was filling the emptiness of my being.’ A great question to ask ourselves, are we simply choosing to eat to override and dull our feelings.

        5. This explains why we often choose to eat when we are not even hungry. I know I have done this many, many times before. So, instead of filling myself with food, I can fill myself up with appreciation which will then overflow to others.

        6. Awesome what has been shared here. Recently there have been moments in the evening where I have overridden what my body was communicating with me and over eaten, causing my abdomen to feel bloated and feeling dreadful afterwards from abusing my body in this way. Reflecting and becoming more aware of my choices leading up to the over eating is certainly what I need to look at and address.

        7. Yes Caroline; and even if we look at and become aware of the reason we are seeking to overeat, what it is we are looking to block and then continue to overeat – having the awareness will support us in future times.

        8. I love the honesty here and this sentence in Chan Ly’s blog “I had been using food for comfort to numb my hurts and to cover up the sadness I held in my body.” I read this blog yesterday and asked myself “what is it (I am) you are trying to fill?” and my response was very clearly communicated to me on a walk, which was that I was filling myself with food so as to not to accept my light and the responsibility that comes with that. Being absolutely honest with ourselves is key, because we do know what foods support us and the quantity.

        9. Great Caroline. Food is such a great way to dull ourselves – it helps us to pretend we don’t know and can’t feel what is really going on. But we have to accept the fact we are using it to retard our evolution and our responsibility. We actually know this too each time we make food choices or any choices which dull us and then have to live with this tension in our bodies, which we pamper ourselves with thinking we don’t feel.

        10. “But we have to accept the fact we are using it to retard our evolution and our responsibility.” This is gold, so true yet exposing as I can feel the resistance in my body; an unwillingness to accept this fact that by overeating and not addressing the cause I am indeed delaying my evolution.

     2. I agree Matilda, to learn to listen to our body is the best thing we can do for our health, wellbeing and for many, many things in our life. After all our health is extremely important and our body will naturally guide us if we choose to listen.

     3. Yes Matilda this is so true. The awareness is like a flash night in our faces and the choices are there for the taking.

112. Beautiful sharing Chan, thank you! I find it interesting how our body can communicate so much to us, yet we can get so good at ignoring the communications or over-riding them! Your beautiful example shows us that we can have a relatively healthy body and one that might not be one to ‘normally’ get diabetes, yet it is possible to get the diagnosis. So we know the diet and exercise are key in the treatment of diabetes, but how is it that some people have relatively great diets and do exercise and yet still get diabetes or Insulin Resistance (IR)? Could there be more to the picture that just diet or exercise? I feel you gave some key words in your blog when you talked about the fact that all along you knew you were being asked to do certain changes, but you held back and avoided taking deeper responsibility. Could it be this resistance to how you could potentially be that triggered your body to call out louder and get your attention through diabetes?
     This has often been my experience – I get ill because I have been ignoring the signs that my body gave me earlier – but there is a purpose to the signs and there is a purpose to the illness too. And this is the blessing we get!

     1. This is fantastic Sylvia – we need more case studies like you!

     2. Excellent suggestion Sylvia! Like a before and after of our health and vitality and wellbeing!

     3. Like yourself sylvianbrinkman, I too have increasing cholesterol levels, despite my low fat , low salt diet. I feel it has to do with letting people in and opening my heart to people more. And yes, I do agree I had a tendency to absorb life- what’s going on around me, but am learning to be consciously present with myself more.

     4. Super important points you have raised Henrietta, I have often ignored or overridden what my body is clearly showing me, and the responsibility I need to be taking.
        This is on all levels, diet exercise and the way I express and communicate with other people, even the way in which I walk, stand and move. When I ignore my body, it makes or forces me to stop, listen and take note by getting sick or an injury, and when I choose to take this as a learning and blessing, it gives me a deeper understanding of the next steps I need to take in self love and care for my body.

        1. Thomas, spot on – Illness is an absolute blessing in the sense that it stops us from going further down the track that would only causes more harm to ourselves. In this process we get to choose instead to care more lovingly and more deeply for ourselves. We win on all levels when we embrace this as the learning that it is.

        2. Great comment Thomas, certainly caring and loving our body is the only way, as we cannot function if our body is sick. To get to this stage means we have already pushed and disregarded our body for far too long, but to view it as a blessing it is certainly true, as our body has a great way to make us listen even if we were not choosing to.

        3. Super gorgeous comment Thomas. ‘when I choose to take this as a learning and blessing, it gives me a deeper understanding of the next steps I need to take in self love and care for my body’. Thank you, this is very inspiring.

     5. Yes, I agree Henrietta and I now understand how our body works, it is constantly communicating to us all the time reflecting our every choice. If we are not willing to listen, then it will just send louder and louder messages and they can come in different forms. Through illness and disease much healing to the body takes place and once we embrace what this process really means, greater healing can occur.

        1. Beautifully said Chan – I so love reading your comments and your blogs! Our bodies do communicate so much to us constantly – so really our responsibility lies in developing a relationship with the body so that we learn to listen and more importantly heed the messages, and lovingly so. After all, our body is the real boss – we might appear to be the CEO of the company and be making all the executive decisions, but the reality is that if we make decisions that do not consider the well being of the whole company (the body) then there will be a riot, or a section of the company that goes on strike or refuses to work under certain conditions. We always need to consider the whole.

        2. I love your comment Henrietta and I love the example you gave us about how our body is like a boss of a company. This example confirms how important it is to always consider the whole in order for harmony to exist and flourish.

        3. I love what you share in your comment here Henrietta, considering the whole is essential, and also, ‘so really our responsibility lies in developing a relationship with the body so that we learn to listen and more importantly heed the messages, and lovingly so.’

     6. Very true Henrietta – we only have to look at the top of every page of the Medicine and Serge Benhayon blog to see the quote from Serge Benhayon: “The marriage of Western Medicine and Esoteric Medicine is the greatest union that will serve humanity”. Without doubt it is always energy first and the physical follows from that. We always need to address both parts.

     7. Great to read what is shared in this thread. I too have had extremely high cholesterol levels, which are lower than they were, but still hover at high levels. I have been choosing to live more from my heart and let go of the protection more and more, but I can still feel protection at times and know I can connect more intimately with myself and people.

113. The love our body has for us in the knowing of who we are in our purity and essence is stupendously grand.

     1. It is indeed Marcia, stupendously grand. The more and more I connect to the body, the more and more respect I have for it and am humbled by the love our body has for us.

        1. Gosh I have never considered this. I’ve been horrible to my body over my life- this is no revelation but realising how I’ve resented having to be loving towards my body is. Ouch. What’s gorgeous about your comments Sarah and Marcia is that I’ve never felt the truth that my body loves me unconditionally. Just like God. I’ve been given an amazing vehicle of expression and I’ve been such a reckless driver. But everything about my body is love – every heartbeat and every ailment too. I am living in a body of love that I take everywhere and I’ve not fully felt this before!! Thank you both so much for your comments.

        2. Gorgeous Sarah. To love our bodies for all that it is is deeply beautiful and when we love it for the great wisdom that it is, there is no greater home.

        3. Very beautiful Sarah and Marcia, your comments reminds us to cherish and appreciate our body. It certainly is amazing and worth our every respect and love, as it supports us in every way, lovingly guiding us through life if we choose to listen.

        4. Wow, I love your comment Karin, so open and honest. Very inspiring, thank you!

        5. This is lovely what is shared here, the love our body has for us, and something I needed to hear, wonderful.

        6. Me too Sarah, the more and more I connect to my body, the more abusive behaviours, those behaviours I would not have thought twice about doing before, stand out. It’s incredible to think about how I treated my body before I came across Universal Medicine, as I took it for granted without really ever paying attention to it and giving it the love and respect it so rightly deserves.

        7. We only take any notice of our body when we are ill or something else is wrong with it and it doesn’t behave in the way we want it to. It feels really beautiful to begin to appreciate my body after neglecting it for so long.

     2. It certainly is Marcia, this knowing is ‘stupendously grand’…. I have experienced this during many Sacred Esoteric Healing courses. This means I now have a marker for this deep connection with my body, my essence and with God.

114. What’s interesting about your sharing Chan was your form of abuse towards yourself came in the guise of food and not your normal ‘abusers’ such as alcohol and drugs that many of us recognise. In fact we can simply justify other methods of abuse towards ourselves as not being ‘real’ abuse because at least they are not alcohol and drugs. Yet as you have shared with us – any form of abuse towards the body no matter what medium we use is abuse, and all sits under the one category.

     1. So true Marcia. I now do not consume gluten, dairy, caffeine, alcohol or sugar and am blown away by how I can feel abnormal by society, such has our society ‘normalised’ these foods and drinks in our lives. Yet, if broken down and considered these items, many would admit that they do not nourish us. ‘In moderation’ seems the get-out clause to not feel how abusive they can actually be to our bodies.

        1. I have noticed that even alcohol is often not registered as abuse to the body by so many, even when it is discussed in the media, it is almost always made light of or fun of with a comment about how to get away with the so called recommended safe amount. It seems that there is a massive avoidance to taking responsibility for our health, and the consequences of that are very real when you look at the heart aching stats on illness and disease and the state of our health care systems…

        2. Yes ginadunlop, you just have to walk down the aisles in a supermarket to realise how ‘normal’ foods such as gluten, dairy, caffeine and sugar have become so accepted in our society. I too have given up all these foods and actually only have to walk down a few of the aisles now to get what I need for my weekly shop. But to buy something for a quick lunch if I am out and about seems to get harder and harder, as more and more foods, even cooked meats or prepared salads seem to be laced with hidden sugars.

        3. Yes Sandra; where I feel a huge bombardment of sugary foods is in service stations/garages – it’s quite overpowering walking in to pay for your fuel.

        4. Anything that doesn’t feel right in our bodies is abuse, it could be ignoring the messages when we eat or drink something or go into emotions and reactions and hold onto old hurts. But no matter if the world tells us that this is abusive (like here in the UK the messages on cigarette packets) until we choose to feel and give the body a say on these behaviours and energies we keep choosing, nothing changes. Re-reading this blog has brought home the message that the body’s input is required when wanting to address abuse and issues that are coming through the body. Food doesn’t just come flying at us, we move our bodies to the food just as abusive behaviours come through us via energy.

        5. Great Leigh. When we break it down into this amount of detail it is amazing to clock how much we can bring abuse into the body – and if we say yes to it in one area, we are saying yes to it in all areas and in society in general. I have found when I break it down into the minutest of detail, like getting to bed just 15 minutes later than my body was asking to go to bed, it brings up great sadness at first that I choose to treat myself in this way. But it has then become the most liberating feeling to be honest and truly self-aware of where I let the abuse in. I am able to address so much and it is allowing me to catch also where I exhaust myself and I am finding I have more space in my body and feeling more vital. Abuse turns to self-care, to self-love.

        6. That’s awesome Gina. Being aware and then the next step being to address it by saying ‘I can choose to love myself by not repeating that’. What I am finding helpful at the moment is rather than beating myself up for being aware of when I allow abuse in is to appreciate this awareness and make friends with it and feeling how my body relates to this choice. When with my body it makes it easier to not repeat that abuse but to go with my body.

        7. So well said Leigh. I am really working with this momentum in my body at the moment and being steady and loving is key because the self-critique momentum is a huge default behaviour. Lovingly holding myself in that awareness feels life changing.

        8. Same here in that default momentum but all around and from the body we get the messages that our default can change and has changed simply by the fact of being aware of the automatic response to be critical. Once upon a time I never would of questioned the critical thoughts so I know deeper within there is a true default to tap into.

        9. Isn’t having awareness such a life changer Leigh?

        10. Awesome to read both your comments Gina and Leigh. By choosing to be aware of our body, how things feel, how certain foods make us feel, is a great way to truly care and nurture our body. Our awareness is the way to helps us evolve and eliminate anything that is not loving.

        11. Spot on – and a reason why diets can never work.

        12. Yes ginadunlop I agree, I too at times have felt very abnormal in society about my choice of foods and that I was the odd one out, but over time I have got used to it and now make sure I prepare food when travelling and my friends and family are aware of my food choices and always consider me. These days I don’t make an issue about food, but preparing myself as much as I possibly can when I am away from home is certainly supporting me in my relationship with food.

        13. Very practical and very well said Caroline. I share a similar experience – I don’t go on about food either but am amazed these days at the effort others go to to accommodate me. This confirms the reflection we are; and great to understand too that they will be noticing how we walk, sit, speak, work, touch the keys on our keyboard. It is all felt and offers a different choice. Beautiful to know how our livingness supports people back to themselves without having to say a word.

        14. It’s great that ginadunlop calls this one out as I hear it so many times but to eat food ‘in moderation’ is falling in with society justifying ourselves that it’s ok to eat food that we all know abuses our body.

     2. This is really powerful. Setting aside the more extreme substances we abuse ourselves with (alcohol, drugs, caffeine etc.) and looking at the apparently ‘little’ ways we do it, is really revealing. Any time we override what our bodes ‘say’ to us we are in abuse and maybe nowhere more so does this happen than in our relationship with food. From control (dieting) to disregard (indulging), food is often our master rather than a simple support and nourishment for our bodies, as we get on with life.

        1. I have realised that it’s the not so obvious harmful choices that are constantly repeated over a long period that are slowly hurting our body and even as extreme as going so far as saying they are slowly killing us. If we can replace our consistency from choosing abuse to choosing love instead imagine how we would feel, how we would all feel?

        2. Yes I would say food has been my ‘drug of choice’ from the start. And I know exactly when I’m ‘using’ it to distract myself from being present – whether this is going longer than is true between meals or over indulging – and when I’m eating to nourish which supports me to be present.

           The choice beneath the food is whether I choose to commit to life in full or not – and it’s in the not bit that I faff around with how little can I commit and get away with not fully being here and bringing all of me. My food choices reflect this. Neither eating one bite too many or way too much -both with the intention of ‘taking the edge off’ life- is committing.

        3. Very powerfully said Matilda, “Any time we override what our bodies ‘say’ to us we are in abuse”. We are so far away from the concept of listening to our bodies it is no wonder there is so much abuse in the world.

     3. I agree Sylvia – comparison can easily be used to make ourselves feel better, feel that our abuse is not really abuse even, this covering up of our true behaviour can be very harmful to us.

     4. At the time when I was using food to abuse my body and if someone pointed out this was what I was choosing I would have denied it, but now choosing to break free from this very subtle abuse I can see it so clearly that I was indeed abusing my body because of how I felt every time after overeating, feeling heavy, moody, not feeling like myself and discomfort.

        1. This is a great example of how we can normalise the overeating, feeling heavy, moody and not feeling ourselves. We settle for being less than who we are.

     5. That’s correct Marcia, to understand and share with people that anything that is not love is abuse means we can be honest, open, and start to address these more subtle forms of abuse. By raising more awareness around the many forms of subtle abuse that are increasingly being accepted as ‘normal’ means we have the choice to arrest this viscous cycle of abuse that exist in our society and show each other that there is another way to live, with love and that anything less than love is simply abuse.

     6. It is truly sad that our love for each other has got to the point that we feel better when someone is worse of than us rather than hurt because of the lack of love we are living. This is like an insidious disease that is running in the background with many if not all being aware of it.

     7. Yes, very well said Marcia. It took me a long time to realise this and understand that abuse is abuse regardless of what form it comes in. This totally changed the way I live once I realised any form of abuse is simply not acceptable. Yet when I look around, in our society we seem to accept abuse as the norm. The more we bring awareness to ourselves we are also naturally sharing this awareness with others and we can start to break this collective pattern and cycle of abuse that is hurting humanity on large scale.

115. This is a great blog and shows the real support we have from making healthy loving choices form our body . This then allows a very evolving relationship with both ourselves and every thing in our lives .

     1. Thank you Tricianicholson, building a relationship with our body is by listening to it, it is always communicating to us so when we are willing to stop and listen, it will guide us in every way.

116. I appreciate what you are confirming Nico. That we are all knowing, and if I’m choosing to not live this truth I reduce myself and then can be much more easily caught up in ideals and beliefs around well-being that aren’t the truth of what my body requires.

     1. It’s empowering to claim that we are all already ‘all knowing’.

117. I know I used to think I was healthy with a balance of a little of everything including caffeine and alcohol. It isn’t until we do our own experiments on ourselves that we can feel exactly what effect certain things can have on us. Then our intelligent body gives us very clear information of what it likes and what it doesn’t. It was very obvious that my body didn’t like alcohol the day after, as it was still trying to process it, but I avoided feeling the truth of it for a long time. My body patiently repeated the message until I got it. Thank you body.

     1. This is great Gill as the word ‘balance’ is often used as the excuse to continue on with something that does not support our body. That it is okay to have a bit of everything in ‘moderation’ to justify the choices that are not actually respecting ourselves or our body.

     2. Beautiful Gillrandall, it’s is incredible to listen and honour our body. Thank you for sharing your experience.

118. I too know “this nagging feeling that I needed to change it but I felt I couldn’t” with respect to changing my diet. While I felt that some parts of my diet needed to change as these where not supporting me there was always that feeling, making myself to believe that I did not know how to do it and by that just left it as it was, no change to be made. Making choices based on this belief that I do not know is in fact debilitating me and in that I reduce myself to a much lesser being than I actually am. I do know because I am part of the all knowing. It is just a matter of choice, to allow this knowing in my conscious awareness or not. Life is actually very simple if we are open and honest with ourselves.

     1. I agree Nico, ‘life is very simple when we are open and honest with ourselves’. It’s great reading your comment, I realise how similar we all are. Most of us already knew what we should change about our lifestyle or habits to support our health but it’s not so easily to change when we are stuck in it without first understanding the root cause of our ill choices. Awareness, understanding and honesty certainly is a starting point.

        1. We indeed are all very similar chanly88, it is actually only the outer expression of our bodies and our lived life experiences that differs but deep within we are all from the same love. And in that love we are all interconnected with each other and with the all knowing, the ageless wisdom we all can equally access to find the answers for the questions we have about human life. The fact that we are all that similar makes me feel humble as we are actually all sitting in the same boat and having the same questions in life, but in our disconnected way of living we are not able to help each other in that. Allowing myself to feel that we are all the same and looking for the same answers in life empowers me to take my responsibility for my own life and to not allow myself to feel more or less than another, but instead that we are all the same, living together to help each other to evolve back to a way of living that belongs to us.

119. The first sentence of your blog is very revealing. It is true that society thinks that they are healthy when in actual fact the statistics of illness reveal the opposite. These statistics are a great reflection if we are willing to see the truth in them and realise that we all are a statistic, even if we are not the one with the problem.

     1. Very true Matthew. I was under the illusion I was healthy because I wasn’t suffering from any illness or disease but then I was thrown off when my body was revealing the truth. I now understand that true health is not just about being illness and disease free but about a way of life that supports us in every way to feel energised, vital and to have truly loving relationships with our body, ourselves and people. Everything can affect our health not just what we ingest but every aspect of our life, work, relationships, ideals and beliefs, and the list goes on.

120. Chan Ly thanks for writing to expose the myth that just because we choose not to smoke and drink it doesn’t mean that we are not abusing our bodies in other ways. Each one of us may choose their form – food, lack of love, self worth, relationship abuse. The list goes on and all of these are shown through the body in some way or another.

     1. This is very true. I know I still attack myself using food when there is something that I don’t want to feel, and then I feel even worse. It’s crazy how we use our bodies in this way.

     2. To be honest with the fact that our bodies are the markers of truth, we have to acknowledge that we are not that intelligent in taking care for ourselves, as this is mainly led by our emotions if we are not consciously aware of our own responsibility in that.

     3. Thank you Grounded05, it is exposing to realise what I was doing, I was making excuses to use food to abuse my body and convincing myself that I was not abusing my body at all because food is something we all use everyday. It’s not illegal, it’s not obviously harming, so therefore I didn’t even consider previously that we could abuse ourselves with food. But learning and understanding the true meaning of abuse has been very healing and exposing for me. I now know that anything that is not loving is simply abuse, no matter how trivial.

121. I can feel the truth in what you share here Chan Ly… truly listening to our body and honouring what it tells us is the only way for true health and vitality. When we fight our body and ignore the messages it tells us we inevitable get sick, tired or run down. Life becomes a struggle and our bodies adjust to this ill-truth and eventually becomes sick. Thank you Universal Medicine for showing the way.

     1. Thank you Gretel, I know if I had not been introduced to Universal Medicine I would still be ignoring my body’s messages and living in a way that puts aside true responsibility and continue to feel dis-empowered and lost.

122. Thank you Chan Ly… I also was under a huge illusion with my body and health, thinking I was invulnerable and indomitable … no listening to my in built message board there at all… thank Heaven for Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon.

     1. Yes, listening to our ‘in built message board’ is key to supporting ourselves and our health. I have received many messages from my body about food and other things but I have chosen to ignore most of them in the past but learning to listen and honour these loving messages is a healing and feels very empowering.

123. By not feeling what foods our body needs, we create all sorts of unnecessary problems. It took me many years to finally find the breakfast that suits me best and that’s chicken vegetable soup ! Many years ago the thought of soup for breakfast would have sounded completely and utterly crazy! When it’s time for this breakfast to change my body will let me know. Thank you for sharing Chan.

124. I enjoyed reading your blog Chan and can really relate to food as a medicine or a poison for our body.
     I too had gestational diabetes in my first pregnancy with my daughter. At the time I was eating a very gluten filled vegetarian diet that did not truly support my body resulting in low iron levels in my blood and I also had a haemorrhage at birth.
     It’s interesting to reflect that at the time I too was overriding the bloating, caffeine rushes, sugar highs and lows and feeling to eat meat. It was not until I met Serge Benhayon and started having healings at the universal medicine clinic that I began to develop a relationship with my body and allow myself the space to feel how certain foods really feel.
     This has been an unfolding relationship with myself and my body and the food I choose to support it.

125. Food choices are a symptom of our state of being and not actually the problem, but often we blame food for how we feel, when in actual fact it is the side effect of ignoring, numbing and smothering the emotions with the temporary band aid of food.

     1. I agree Matthew. And food choices perpetuate the feelings that we seek to numb. It’s vicious cycle, much like any other drug.

     2. Yes, we avoid our feelings by numbing our bodies with food, or when we abandon ourselves we look to fill the emptiness we feel inside with food – either way it is not the food but our relationship with ourselves that needs our attention first.

        1. Yes, I fully agree with you Matthew, Jinya and Janet. Food is the temporary band aid to numb out from our emotions and hurts. Key is the re-building a deeper relationship with ourselves first.

126. It is so much easier to ignore the truth that food can also be a drug just like alcohol, smoking and drugs. It is only when we start really listening to our bodies that we can feel and understand just how true this is.

     1. So many people do not want to know the harmful affects of certain foods because food for a lot of people is the only comfort they feel they have. It is a situation of “don’t take away my food otherwise there is nothing left”!.

        1. This is so true Elizabeth and because food is not ‘out there’ as harmful in the way that alcohol and drugs are, they feel safe to continue.

     2. You make a great point here Jane about food used as a ‘drug’. Since I have been listening more to what my body wants to eat, I have noticed that even if I eat just a little bit more than I need (out of a need to numb some feeling that I don’t want to deal with) I end up feeling abnormally bloated, have poor digestion, and can’t sleep well at all. In the past I could ‘get away with’ this but it’s as if once there is a committment to deal with my issues, anything going against that rings loud and clear by my bodies’ response to this behaviour. A pretty cool feedback loop, I feel.

127. Thank you Chan, I too have found changing my rhythm of sleep so supportive. Going to bed early and getting up early I have much more vitality and free time before I go to work.

128. Awesome blog Chan and very revealing. It can be so easy to tell yourself you are doing fine by comparing yourself to the way others live. In your case, by not using drugs or alcohol, you told yourself that was healthy enough. But deep down your body knew otherwise.

     1. That’s right Nikkimckee, I was certainly doing that and I was also gauging my health by my body size, I thought because I was petite and did’t put on weight easily that I could eat almost anything and I didn’t worry about the quantity. I was under the illusion and convinced myself that if I looked fine then my body must be fine. I have realised that how we look doesn’t always reflect our true health, it is connecting to how our body really feels, by being completely honest with ourselves and by building a relationship with listening and honouring our body and how we choose to live to assist us in establishing true health.

        1. Well said. Comparison can be a sneaky and deceptive thing. A relationship with our body based on truth is a game changer.

129. Chan, I love the honesty in your sharing. How you share about your food addiction and how you changed your diet in the end shows me how strong your will was over something which seemed to hold you imprisoned for many years.

130. Very honest, light and simple, thanks Chan.

131. Chan, your honest and clear blog has been shared with people I know. Some have connected to it, been inspired to and passed it on to others. Thank you.

132. What a beautiful sharing Chan, to have the gestational diabetes during pregnancy, when you ‘had’ to make changes for health and the baby. But then to later make choices for you, other health choices, that is so empowering, self honouring and loving to do so, than to feel like you ‘have’ to.

133. Food can be as much of a drug as any substance, but through right choice of words we conveniently choose not to see it that way.

     1. I agree Adam, very well said. Food is very much our medicine or our drug. What we ingest assists our body in healing or harming it.

134. Thank you Chan, what you have shared is so true for the large majority of society. We all know when we eat or drink something that does not support the body, that is clear. But there is a such a strong consciousness that supports ‘treats’ and ‘comforts’ that we convince ourselves that it is ok, particularly because everybody else is doing it. To start to truly listen to and respect what the body is telling us is a quantum leap forward in our evolution and with ever rising illness and disease the pain will become too great and others will begin to follow the same path as you.

     1. Yes, Kate, eating to nourish the body is very different from eating as a treat, to comfort or numb. This is something we need to be very honest about with ourselves.

135. “I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food” – a great insight, truth and also reminder Chan. There is so much with food, that exploring what we eat, why we eat, and how much, is all related to the way we are relating with ourselves in life. Exploring this gave me something ‘known’ to work with in regards deepening that relationship without any self-bashing or critique, but more a realness that opened up the space for new choices, and new ways of being with myself.

136. I can very much relate to feeling that I was super healthy and very surprised when anything went wrong in my body. This is despite the fact that I have had periods of abusing body with smoking, drinking, coffee and drugs! Now I understand that the body is a finely tuned and delicate instrument that SUPPORTS ME by getting sick, giving me signs and symptoms of when something is no good for me, just in case I didn’t listen to my inner knowing that knew before my body had to tell me anyway 😉

     And this is where it gets interesting: I have found that I can’t listen and respond to my knowing about letting go of a particular food or way of eating, unless I deal with the pain, sadness and hurts that I am suppressing first. For me it was easy to let go of gluten, and only a few wobbles in letting go of dairy and coffee, but that’s because I had the substitutes ready and waiting up my sleeve! Like you Chan, I felt it would be impossible to let go of my comforts and treats, even extending into simply how much I would eat and how often, keeping myself from feeling everything I was feeling. What would I do without them?

     As I bring my awareness to this pattern, I realize I need to be very honest and also very gentle with myself when I slip up, knowing that this pattern has been around a very long time and worked very well at suppressing feeling. So bit by bit I am opening up to all this feeling and realising how very lovely it is if I can support myself through the intensity first and let it move through.

     1. I love what you share here Emma “I realize I need to be very honest and also very gentle with myself when I slip up, knowing that this pattern has been around a very long time and worked very well at suppressing feeling” as for me I know in the past I make the change and expect it to stay that way whereas understanding that I can slip at any time is important. It is how I then support myself back that is key.

     2. You honesty is beautiful Emma. It can be so easy to not see the connection between the foods we choose and the deeper underlying reason we choose them. It can be convenient to stay in the “addicted” phase instead of going deeper as to why we make that choice. This applies to overeating as much as it does to the choice of foods we eat.

     3. I love how you share that our bodies actually support us by getting sick. This is something, which should be shared far and wide and deeply considered by everyone. Any illness offers us a stop moment to ask ourselves, why is this happening, what is at the root of this illness?

137. Thank you Chan. The statement you have made here ‘I had been using food for comfort to numb my hurts and to cover up the sadness I held in my body’ is an important one, as it is essentially what most people do. Eating or using food is a very easy way to numb whatever uncomfortable feeling we have – and sadness is a common one. We do this because it is something we can learn to do from very young, especially if we are not supported with what to do with these uncomfortable feelings when they arise. Instead of expressing about them, we suppress them and they go undealt with until one day they resurface in whatever way they do – which can involve more complicated illness and disease. It is much simpler, and of course healthier for our bodies if we deal with these emotions at the time and do not bury them, so the key here is to support people from young to express about what they are feeling, to hold onto their sensitivity, and not feel like they need to hide it or dull it away.

     1. I so agree with you Amelia about not knowing how to deal with emotions which leads to the burying of them and ultimately a suppressed way of expression that leaves one feeling awkward and restricted at times in illness or dis-ease with ourselves, and whole life itself… I certainly recall this from childhood, and hence the importance what you share, which is great parenting counsel “……to express about what they are feeling, to hold onto their sensitivity, and not feel like they need to hide it or dull it away”.

138. The way we trick ourselves to “believe” we are eating healthy foods is quite a realization. Our bodies know what’s healthy and appropriate to eat, yet switching the power to our judgment and not the impressions we are offered by society is a significant step. It still fascinates me the strength of pull to go along with the general tide than swim up stream for our own choice of well-being.

     1. Great point Sandra, and what about how we ignore the messages from our body and our own knowing – mind boggling how and why we do this.

     2. Lately I have noticed how often my mind steps in quite vocally when my body gives me a clear message a certain food is not supporting me. For a while nectarines have been upsetting my tummy but I have chosen to listen to my mind when it says “Necatarines? Don’t be silly!” But I can’t deny my body’s response.

139. It is interesting the food choices that become apparent when we are pregnant, because of the magnifying glass that hovers over us when there is another precious person living inside! Sometimes pregnancy provides a great wake up to the choices we are making and yet just as easily we can override our preciousness for the beliefs and investments that we have come to own. What is evident from your story Chan, is that it is never too late to make new and honouring choices with our food and to truly listen to our body’s reactions to them.

140. Chan, to now be choosing responsibility and not take chances is a massive choice and inspiration to everyone. This choice is actually to take care of your own body, that which provides your natural wisdom, science and vitality and make it your number one priority; from here our bodies will support us in everything that we do.

     1. Beautiful Cherise, I find it amazing to discover how my body supports me to make more loving choices by reminding me of my every choice. Any time I am not making choices to support my body, it will let me know almost instantly.

        1. Our body is like the true friend that does not hold back from expressing the love it has for us.

141. My body tells me now more than ever if something is not right, as I know I have put on weight recently even though I am eating less than ever, only I am not refining what I eat enough. I used to pretty much get away with putting anything in my bod,y or so I thought at the time, but now I must be far more responsible.

     1. Isn’t it interesting how our bodies can become more sensitive when we deepen our relationship with them and look after ourselves more. I know what you mean Kevin – I eat much less than I used to, but can still put on weight if I’m not constantly refining the foods I’m eating and paying attention to exactly what my body needs.

142. It’s amazing how we can override the messages from our body even though we know how much better we would feel if we followed the prompts. I wonder why we do this? What part of truth do we not like?

143. It is a huge realisation to come to appreciate that one can abuse one’s body through food. To eat is something we have to do to survive, so it is much more subtle and insidious than other substances and hence can be far more difficult not only to stop let alone to even identify there is abuse.

     1. Well said, Jonathan. Food is required to sustain the body, but it is important to relegate it to its relative importance in our daily lives, and see that to eat more than the body needs is a form of abuse.

144. Thank you for sharing your experience with gestational diabetes and the diet changes you eventually made as a result of this. We all need to look carefully at what we are eating but I do find I can waver at times, something I intend to be more responsible with from now on.

145. “I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances… I was actually abusing my body with food.” This is a huge point Chan…abusing our bodies with food is the reason for so many illnesses and diseases, and obesity in the world today.
     Consuming food is seen as so normal that society in general never questions what kind of food am I eating, do I need this amount of food, and is it truly supportive for my body. It is often seen as meals ticked off through the day.
     This is great inspiration Chan, supporting people to bring much more awareness around food, what they eat and how they eat, and feeling what is true for their own body.

146. Chan thanks for your important blog. It seems time and time again we compare ourselves to more extreme behaviours in others and in so doing we categorize and play down what it is that we are doing. We all either know someone or know of someone that does something to excess and that often causes us to trivialize what it is that we are doing, rather than actually listen to our bodies for the true effect that are choices are having on us.

147. What a great and helpful sharing Chan, inspirational. Using food to not feel one’s body is so common practice in the world that it is considered totally normal for everyone, and usually only after major illness and disease does this offer the opportunity to change if we choose to listen.

148. When we begin to change what we have always done in terms of eating, we are changing more than food choices, but very old patterns, behaviours and consciousness we have aligned with.

     1. Yes Matthew, we actually choose to become more aware and in that we do acknowledge that everything is energy and that we are part of a much grander whole. Living this grandness brings a whole new way of caring for ourselves, of which eating to support and nurture our bodies is one part of.

     2. This is a valid point Matthew. We think it’s just about the food, but there is so much more going on. That’s why it’s so important to be gentle with ourselves, do things gradually, and seek support to heal the issues that are driving our unloving choices.

     3. This is so true Matthew and why many find it such a struggle as it is not just about the food but so much more.

     4. Agree Mathew, indeed there is a big consciousness about food that as a society we adhere to, such as ways to celebrate different occasions and the choice of foods we tend to eat more often being harmful for our bodies, but because we people don’t like responsibility, it is easier to make excuses about being cultural or special celebration. So as you have said, by choosing to make positive changes in the way we use food, we are letting go of old ingrained patterns from our bodies, creating more space to be who we truly are.

     5. This is really inspiring as a revelation of the knock on effect of apparently small choices around food. As we break food habits, addictions and myths we are also breaking old patterns of dysfunctional behaviour. Yes please!

149. It’s interesting that our bodies are always communicating with us, but because we filter these feelings through our ideals and beliefs we assume our body can cope and we override the loud message we are being shown. Like being overweight, always tired or presenting with an illness is a sure indicator something needs to change. Responsibility and honesty is the key here to understand why and having the commitment to our body to implement the changes. How cool is our body it’s there to support us.!

150. Chan you are truly inspirational. Thank you for sharing your story and bringing more awareness to the fact that we can changes our lives by becoming more responsible and making loving choices. It all starts with us.

     1. That’s right Kathrynfortuna, the beauty and power in taking responsibility and making loving choices is incredible.

     2. Absolutely Kathryn. It starts and ends with us – our daily choices make all the difference, and as much as we sometimes want someone else to take the reins, we are our own responsibility and this need not be a burden… Instead an opportunity to let loose on our light and love for the rest of humanity to be inspired by.

        1. This is a great way to look at responsibility Susie. I like it!

     3. Beautifully and succinctly said Kathryn. “We change our lives by becoming more responsible and making loving choices.” These choices don’t need to be grandiose, they can be small and simple.

     4. This cuts through all our complication about life being hard and a struggle. It is in the simplest of every day choices that we set the foundation and start to build a real relationship with responsibility: not a burdensome thing to be avoided at all costs, but the engine and power behind our relationship with ourselves, others and life.

151. It’s easy to think we have a healthy diet by society’s standards. I used to think eating everything and anything in moderation was fine without feeling into my indigestion and bloating. Only when I made other changes to gluten and diary free eating and felt deeper into how what I was eating was affecting me, did I realise the huge difference eliminating different food substances could make.

     1. I have heard this saying before Gillrandall, ‘eating everything and anything in moderation was fine’ or something very similar. But when we consider how intelligent, precious and sensitive our bodies are, when we make any unloving choices, regardless of the quantity or scale our body gets affected. When we listen to our body we can really feel our every choice.

        1. Completely Chan, “everything in moderation”, when “the moderation” is something that does not truly nourish or is good for the body, then of what benefit is this “moderation”? This saying that many of us make, myself included some years back, is a complete fallacy or get out of jail card used to not take responsibility for ourselves, bodies and choices…which is a form of abuse.

152. This blog is an awesome investigation into life Chan, so many people when they get ill just accept it rather than ask – why did this happen? I’m a big fan of this sentence ‘I now see food and lifestyle as my medicine.’ I absolutely agree, food and the way we live has a ginormous effect on the way we feel and our health, we eat every day and it affects us every day, the same as every choice we make in life, everything affects our health and well-being so much more than we would like to admit.

     1. I agree Meg, I used to think it was all about our diet in terms of our health but I have realised there is so much more to it. Our health and well-being is a result of all our choices.

        1. Yeah – it still amazes me how every choice I make affects my health, learning to accept this is learning to live with a far greater responsibility for both myself and others.

     2. Meg you raise a very important point here. It is so crucial that we remain curious about what’s going on for us and around us. To ask ‘why did this happen?’ keeps us open to learning more about ourselves. All too often we just accept when things happen. We forget how powerful we can be when we exercise our simple right to question and make new choices.

        1. Beautifully said Debra, I would say living with a never-ending curiosity is such an essential key to life, there’s always so much more to learn and discover about ourselves.

153. Your blog make so clear to me Chan Ly, that after we have allowed these heavy foods, like dairy, gluten and sugar into our bodies that the dullness that these foods bring to the body makes it very hard to take the loving choice to cut them out of our diet later on. While we know that these are not good for us, we even say that we feel we could not, that changing seems impossible. Food for thought, I would say…

     1. Yes, Nico, it is amazing to feel the difference in the body when we experiment with our food and start cutting things out that make us feel heavy or bloated. The lovely feeling of lightness and greater vitality then confirms our choices.

        1. Indeed Janet, the lightness and clarity that is innately in all of us is just there if we clear the ‘heavy’ energies from our bodies by cutting out the foods that brings that heaviness and dullness to the body when we eat it.

     2. The thought of giving up something we use for comforting or rewarding ourselves can seem impossible when we are not ready or willing to make loving choices for our body. The drive to override what we innately know supports our body is often very strong, therefore to me it’s not only about what we choose to eat but about other aspects of our life. For example, if we truly want to change our life around from misery to joy and vitality, we need to address every aspect of the way we live and express.

        1. I agree with you Chan Ly, it is our way of living that determines what we choose to eat and how we respond to life. It is how we have been living up to the point where we make the decision what to eat or how to react. Everything we have lived before is instantly with us and actually determines what we choose. That said, it is actually not about our choices but about how we live and the quality of our lived life that will determine the quality of our choice.

154. I love your comment Marika, so honest and inspiring. When I do wobble and make some unloving food choices I can now, reflect back and see so clearly where my unloving choices started and why, whereas before I was continuously making those choices and didn’t stop to reflect or take any notice. I realise now, my every choice is an opportunity for me to reflect and learn.

155. Wow, now that’s something to ponder on. I have never thought of it like that but you are so right Marika, I can definitely say I have used food to abuse my body.

156. Another great point of your article Chan is the effects of gluten, dairy and sugar. I find it concerning that these foods, especially gluten and dairy, are part of government guidelines, and promoted by dieticians and nutritionists. As we have seen in the past, previous advice about avoiding certain foods (like eggs) were reversed, as is the “low fat” diet now being exposed as not supportive for health or weight loss, so it’s great to read of you following your personal experience and what your own body tells you. If removing gluten, dairy and sugar has led to so many benefits, what does it say about nutritional “advice”?

     1. Good point Melinda, there are many beliefs that we as a society have dropped due to them being found as false; we used to believe the world was flat, people were given mercury as a medicine, many still have it in their teeth, fad diets were once promoted and are now known to be harmful. Many people are finding their body reacts uncomfortably with gluten and dairy, and yet as you say they are still promoted. What feels like is needed is for us to feel from the body what supports it and what the body does not like, and take that as our own specialised nutritional advice. Easy and free…

     2. This is a great point Melinda. I remember in primary school we had tons of lessons about a ‘balanced diet’, with lots of carbohydrates and dairy products for calcium. It wasn’t a suggested diet – it was a ‘must’, and I agree that we should listen to what foods are right for our personal body than issue a generic eating plan which may not suit everyone.

        1. This is a great point Susie. It would be really useful if as part of education about food and diet, care was taken to introduce greater awareness about reading how our body responds to choices such as food. This would be invaluable for every one.

     3. So much of what we are taught, later becomes unraveled and we have to reeducate ourselves. Surely the obvious answer is for each individual to listen to their own bodies and eat and live from there. We are all different. One size does not fit all, so how could that possibly be the same for food too?

        1. I love your point about one size not fitting all Jenny. Our bodies are all so different, so it makes sense that there is not a set way of eating that is going to be right for everyone. Un-educating ourselves from all the false information we have been fed is such an on-going process.

     4. It is so sad that even Government authorities are completely taken by the consciousness that feeds them the idea that eating the current nutritional guidelines is actually healthy. We just need to look around to see that is far from the truth. Yet, there is also a revolution taking place, many people are trying the Paleo diet which consists of protein, vegetables, nuts, fruits and oils and are finding miraculous turn arounds in their health and well being. It is also amazing how much backlash this way of eating has been receiving from the ‘experts’. This really goes to show there is certainly something much deeper going on, who or what would not want not want us to be vibrant, truly healthy and powerful?

     5. We choose not to eat gluten and dairy in my house. My six year old son struggles at school when they are taught about healthy eating and cheese is always on the list and encouraged. He doesn’t understand why they would say that is healthy.

        1. This confirms that we should always discern what truth is and what is not. Just because someone says it is does not make it so, discerning it for ourselves is deeply empowering.

157. It’s very true that we can hide out under the umbrella of “I don’t smoke/drink/do drugs” or other extremes, and use this to override what our body is saying (often very loudly) about our other activities, which are actually really hurting the body and impacting negatively on our short term and long term health.

     1. So true Melinda. Getting stuck on ideas that people have said or that society readily accepts as being “good for us” can be as harming as those that we ‘know’ are not good for us. Our bodies offer the wisdom of what will be best for us.

     2. Well said Melinda, it was a big wake up call for me when I realised I was under an illusion about my health. Just because we don’t use some of the more obvious abusive substances, doesn’t mean we don’t abuse our body with other things. For me I often used food. By being honest and understanding what abuse really is, helped me to make more loving choices.

     3. Yes Melinda, it is interesting to see the ways we hide under the umbrella of not using extreme substances or foods as in truth it all comes down to responsibility for our livingness.

158. I didn’t know that there was actually a name for women developing diabetes during pregnancy. Having done some on-line research I see that gestational diabetes is very common and affects up to 18 in 100 women in England and Wales (NHS website). It’s a similar figure worldwide, according to the International Diabetes Federation of up to 15% women having this diagnosis in pregnancy. It’s great that you share your experience here on-line Chan Ly and that you are taking responsibility for your choices.

     1. Thank you Shevonsimon, I didn’t know about Gestational Diabetes until I was diagnosed with it. I also did some research into this as I wanted to know why I developed it and to know as much about it as possible about it.

159. I have found that it can be so easy to get stuck on what and when I am eating and not eating instead of truly listening to my body and what is needed. What you have mentioned here Chan about the constant readjustment reminded me of how important it is to really feel what our body needs in each moment.

     1. this is so true Simone, there are so many ideals about what you should and shouldn’t eat, especially for breakfast. Soup for breakfast in Australia sounds crazy compared to the cereal and toast we grew up with but it can feel so warm and nourishing.

        1. While our bodies know what they need, our minds are able to override this need and eat the food that it is used to by example and repetition instead but is not nourishing to body at all. How crazy is that, that such an intelligence we pride ourselves to be is able to do such things.

        2. That’s been my experience too Joel, it feels a bit like we are trapped in a false bubble of what breakfast is for. It’s like a commercial runs through our collective minds that eating cereal and toast for breakfast is somehow the only way to go and that anything else is far out and crazy. But when addressed logically this makes no sense; breakfast, like all meals, should be about optimal nutrition and a steady flow of energy through our day. Within that perhaps soups or full meals are the way to go, certainly cereal and toast did not fill me up not leave me in a heightened state of energy!

        3. So true Stephen, I remember it not taking long to feel hungry after toast and cereal, so I would double down and over eat to compensate. Now I’ve stopped following rules and find I eat much less but have more energy.

        4. I was introduced to cereal and bread for breakfast when I was 7 years old. When I ate this for breakfast I felt extremely heavy and dull. I don’t eat that anymore and by choosing to have foods that are lighter and more nutritious feels to me like a far more loving way to start my day.

     2. I can relate to this Simone, ‘I have found that it can be so easy to get stuck on what and when I am eating and not eating instead of truly listening to my body and what is needed’, I find that I can have this idea of set meal times and eating 3 times a day.
        I was ill recently and instead of following this set idea, I ate what I felt to and when, this was a great experience and felt very supportive and nurturing. I loved working with my body in this way, it felt very natural.

        1. It’s crazy when we do get ill we become aware of the bodies needs and become super sensitive to what we feel supports us, if we made that the ‘norm’ we would be making choices from the body that supported our well being on a daily basis.

        2. It’s interesting how you were more attuned to listening to your body when you were ill. I did the same in the past, I’d pay more attention to what I ate when I was ill but once I got better I would revert back to my old habits. Interesting that, but now I hardly ever get sick and I eat with being more aware of how my body feels and what I eat.

160. Chan what a great read. I can particularly relate to “I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food.” Society will usually associate the word abuse with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, but hardly does it ever associate it with food. What is pertinent is the fact that we are all at different stages of our evolutionary journey and therefore listening to our bodies is a very personal and individual thing. I know some people who can eat steak, potato, rice, watermelon etc…, however I also know others who feel the effect of high carbs in their system as similar to having a glass of wine with a headache! If it makes you bloat after, then don’t eat it; if it makes you feel sick afterwards then don’t eat it; if it gives you diarrhoea and a headache afterward, then leave it out of your diet. What ever the food, if you feel heavy, bloated, sick, dull, checked-out, acidy, headachy then ask yourself… why are you eating it.

     1. This is a great dialogue to have with our bodies Donna, and is something that I do. It is amazing to trust what your body is communicating. I am learning how precious are bodies truly are and how they deserve to be treated with respect and tender loving care.

        1. Oh yes aminatumi, once we have started this honest relationship with our bodies, it becomes very clear when we choose to override our awareness, it’s like cheating ourselves, and our body is the loser. Why would we do that to ourselves?

        2. Also aminatumi it is with such grace our bodies support us with messages until such time as we begin to ” respect and tender lovingly care” for this vehicle , it is never too late to build that loving relationship.

        3. Your comment rings 100% true for me Amina. Our bodies are precious because as their message is always pure and a true reflection of what is going on for us if we are but open to listening to it.

        4. Agree aminatumi, our bodies are truly precious and the more commitment there is in our part to deepen our relationship with them, the more we get to experience life in a different way, as there is a more subtle and powerful communication of what is needed at any given time, amazing!

     2. There are so many foods we believe we can’t live without. Coming from a Caribbean family my staples foods were rice and starchy veg like yam, sweet potato, green banana, etc. Once I started having esoteric healing over time, I found that I could not stomach them anymore. It’s been a good few years since I’ve eaten these foods and I don’t miss them at all AND feel fulfilled with my meals. Worrying about how other people will be with our new food choices, or any change can cause us to give up on what we know works for us, however when we do things for ourselves in TRUE support of our bodies I’ve found that we’re likely to be much more content.

        1. I grew up eating a lot of rice and I have felt heavy, bloated and sluggish every time I have eaten it for as long as I can remember. I was overriding this feeling because I had given my power away to a traditional way of eating, by not honouring my body and ignoring the loud messages my body was giving me. Now, I have made a loving choice to listen to my body and honour it lovingly.

     3. What you’ve shared Donna, makes it so clear that we are not always honouring our body but very often choosing to ignore and abuse it with different things, food, drugs, exercise, etc. and the list goes on. But when we stop and ask ourselves why? This is already a start to healing our patterns and behaviours of abuse. I am understanding that abuse is simply anything that is not loving, it doesn’t just mean extreme forms of abuse, and it can apply to pretty much everything.

161. Chan Ly, it is amazing isn’t it the difference an esoteric healing session can make to our bodies. I also experienced feeling lighter and clearer in my body. I would definitely say that Esoteric Healing is the most profound type of complementary health treatment I have experienced, nothing comes close to it from my experiences in supporting my body to feel open and energised.

     1. I agree the difference I feel in my body and myself is incredible since having Sacred Esoteric healing sessions, and it doesn’t just get to a point and stay there, if we are willing to take responsibility and go deeper the amazingness just keeps going.

        1. Having Sacred Esoteric Healing sessions has led to some profound positive changes in my life. I have tried many different healing modalities over the past 20 years and this type of healing is the most supportive and deeply connecting experience I had ever come across.

     2. I experience Esoteric healing also as such a support to my life and my body Stephen, assisting in releasing the body from the heaviness and dullness that withheld me from feeling my body and the intelligence it holds and it assists greatly to make the loving choices that truly support my body, instead of the numbing way of life I used to live, in order to numb away that which I did not want to feel.

        1. To recognise and feel what we are holding onto is the beginning of setting ourselves free.

        2. I have also found Esoteric Healing sessions, courses and presentation have deeply supported me to honour and feel my body in such a loving and supportive way. From embracing to heal my hurts and letting go of the heavy load I was carrying in my body allowed me to become more aware, lighter and more able to make loving choices.

     3. The power of Esoteric Healing is immense, so much so that I wonder why it is not in every clinic in the world as a complement to medicine practice.

        1. Great point Heather Pope. The truth is that it ought to be in both our medical and complementary healing clinics.

        2. It really should be! Millions are missing out on the missing link in medicine.

     4. I agree Stephen, Esoteric Healing is so incredibly holistic, treating the whole body, there is nothing I have known like it, except of course every one of the other Universal Medicine Modalities, Esoteric Breast Massage, Esoteric Massage, Chakra-Puncture, Connective Tissue Therapy, Esoteric Yoga…

     5. I have to agree Stephen, the Esoteric therapies are profound and truly allow the body to rest and regenerate with practitioners that work with the highest code of conduct in the world.

        1. I agree Matthew. The Esoteric Therapies and courses are definitely of the highest quality in the world. I too have experienced this amazing feeling of regeneration, vitality and stillness that I can incorporate into my daily life. This just keeps expanding and deepening every time I choose to apply its incredible teachings.

162. Thank you Chan Ly. Reading this today it keeps bringing us back to the basics of life. If we self- lovingly and truthfully look at all our choices we do know deep inside what are the right choices for us to make and to take responsibility for those choices as the consequence will always be revealed when our bodies show us the results. What is so beautiful is that it is never too late to make changes in our diet, life styles etc and again our bodies change with us.

     1. That’s right Marion, we definitely deep down know what is true and what is not for our body. I agree it is never too late to start making loving choices. I have found for me, playing dumb is an excuse to not take responsiblity and for not being honest with myself when it comes to food choices. Our bodies are amazing and if we are willing to tune into the messages it is sending us, we know what foods are healing for our body and what is not. It’s our natural ability to connect to our body that we’ve simply haven’t chosen to use.

     2. Accepting that it is never too late is really inspiring. It cuts out giving up or regret and opens up the potential for change at any time in our lives. I know that when I step up to a new level of commitment and awareness my body is only too willing to shift and change too, almost as though it is ready and waiting for every moment that I make the loving choices required.

163. Expressing truth and love through our food choices – this makes total sense and is supremely progressive when we consider what our nations are truly consuming. So many of us are hooked on food substances that don’t work for us, and also caught up in the societal expectations that we’ll just continue along with the herd in doggedly consuming and ingesting said foods which our bodies must then respond to with illness and disease. Great that you offer the inspiration for taking responsibility – for that’s the only way to break any insidious pattern that is detrimental to our health.

     1. I found that once I made good choices about my food, after a while the less wonderful choices I make are less about food but about how I live my life. How much I am looking for relief.

        1. This is true for me also Christoph, the clearer the body becomes through our choices with food, the clearer our reasons for eating foods becomes.

        2. I have definitely found the same Christoph, the not so great choices I make about food are never about food, but about what’s going on in the rest of my life and the choices I am making every day, and whether I’m seeking relief or comfort from what I am feeling.

        3. What you say is so true Christoph. The less wonderful choices we make about food is always because we are getting something out of it. Reading your comment and Lisa and Meg’s I was amused by imagining a food chart that chart the amount of calories / fat / proteins etc per food type, also having columns to show us the amount of ‘dulling down’ of our awareness or how much each type catapults us away from our stillness and harmony within… Of course our body can tell us all the information we need exactly related to us and our development in life if we just listen.

        4. Wonderful Insight Christoph.

        5. For me too Christoph, when I make’ wonderful choices’ my body thanks me, and when I don’t, it instantly reacts and says ‘No’. It’s tipping the balance to where our natural choice is always food that supports and leaving space, instead of feeling compelled to fill our stomachs with snacks.

        6. I agree Christoph. And it is a a constant refinement of a work in progress.

        7. True, my food choices can reflect how I am and what is going on in my life, the not so good choices frequently being a form of comfort or numbing.

     2. Cathy what you say about societal expectations is huge. I know that when I say to people I don’t eat certain foods because I can feel this is not what my body wants, they either go into sympathy or think I am being pedantic, either way there is some judgement that I am either suffering or being unnecessarily fussy. There is an enormous pressure by society to try to conform to what is seen as ‘normal’.

        1. I can relate to this as well Alison. I sometimes feel this pressure to be like everyone else. But the more I continue with my food choices, the more others accept it as my normal even though they do occasionally try to tempt me away! Yes there can be an assumption my food choices are less and I’m missing out in some way but I’ve also found people are inspired to be less dependent on foods they’ve always considered to be normal and consider alternatives.

        2. I have experienced this too Alison – not eating sugar seems to be a particularly difficult one for some to accept. But by staying steady and honouring what my body is saying ie. that it doesn’t want sugar, I feel the benefits and others are reflected a different choice by my choice.

        3. If ‘there is an enormous pressure by society to try to conform to what is seen as ‘normal’’, and we choose to not conform, what is it that we are most afraid of? Is it not being loved, or is it being seen for who we really are? Or is it more the pain of seeing others not being themselves? This something I am sitting with.

        4. Yes, I have experienced this too. The key is to remind myself to not apologise for my food choices but fully claim and appreciate what I know is loving for my body.

        5. This has also been my experience, for some reason I often get ‘poor you’ types of comments when there is cake or treats being handed around. But it does give me the opportunity to say ‘there’s no need to feel sorry for me because it’s my choice not to eat the cake’.

        6. I agree alisonmoir, the pressure to conform comes from people not wanting feel exposed about the poor choices and lack of responsibility in their lives, and it seems too much when there is someone clearly making self-loving choices.

        7. There is an enormous pressure by society to try to conform to what is seen as ‘normal’, people do not like it when we step out of the ‘box’. I have experienced this over the years, it is a judgement which stops them feeling what it is bringing up in themselves..

     3. I agree Cathy, with the amount of illness and disease that is prevalent in our society today and all the pain and discomfort that goes with that, the single one thing we can do that would be supportive to prevent further disharmony within the body is to change our diet to one that is truly supportive.

     4. Great comment Cathy. I like what you share about, ‘Expressing truth and love through our food choices’. This we can certainly choose to do, like other forms of expression. As long as we are expressing forth truth and love this is our best guide in life.

     5. Our bodies know so much – and when we truly listen to them, then we are saying yes to support and a form of communication that is not intellectual, but holds innate wisdom.
        I am at the moment very much appreciating how my relationship with food continues to change and develop all the time. Therefore I cannot find comfort in one certain food as my body will let me know it is not supportive. Instead the foods I am drawn too are nourishing, and because my body is telling me it needs something from that food. I am loving this level of communication, which is not just possible with food but with everything. Though food has been an amazing place to start.

     6. I also wonder how many illness and diseases are diet related? I imagine there are a lot and for me, I know diabetes is definitely one of them. This means we do have a say in our health and well-being. Our health doesn’t just deteriorate for no reasons, our choices are a major contributor to how we feel and how healthy we are.

164. I find myself with a choice many times a day, responsibility or comfort. Part of me seems to forever seek comfort and want to avoid responsibility, thankfully I have a body which continues to remind me which is the true and healthy choice.

     1. Our bodies are our loving teachers with such a deep love and understanding for our being that it will keep reminding us with the truth that it is connected to, until the time we surrender to the big plan we are part of and rise from the shadows and step into the light.

        1. So true Nico, our bodies have the ability to reveal so much of how we live and choices we make. ‘Surrender’ is the word that stands out for me, being able to surrender to what the body exposes, not fight it, numb it or not listen, is for me an ongoing and daily choice to make.

        2. For me too Reagan, to surrender to the natural order and rhythm of our bodies is an ongoing choice to make at any moment in the day. When I do not make that conscious choice, than I slide back into my old habits of comfort and disconnect myself from the grandness I am part of.

        3. Beautifully said Nico, reading these wise words is like music to my ears and my entire body.

     2. ‘ Part of me seems to forever seek comfort and want to avoid responsibility’, I feel this too Tim, and you are right, thankfully the body is the marker of truth, and there is the want to read the signs.

     3. Tim I love the clarity of what you have shared ‘comfort or responsibility’. The comfort is just for us, the responsibility is for the whole.

        1. That’s a great way of saying how it is Alexis. And that is why responsibility allows us to grow, which allows all to grow.

        2. Brilliant Alexis, very well said and it is inspiring for me to read this. Thank you!

     4. It is a choice we are constantly faced with Tim I agree, all day every day. However, the more I have grown to love myself and care for my body, the more my body guides me to take responsibility and relinquish the comforts. In doing so I have come to realise just how false these comforts are, delivering a temporary sensation or relief that always leave a trail of debris behind them that ultimately cancels out the ‘treat’; the headaches, the bloating, raised blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and so on. If we surrender to our body’s natural choices they will always deliver the ultimate ‘treat’, vitality, health and well being every day.

     5. I agree Tim and the body feels so much better when we are responsible, which is very nice when we notice it.

        1. Yes my body is light, receptive and much more enjoyable to inhabit when I take responsibility.

        2. Yes, very well said Nicole and Christoph. I feel great when I choose to take responsibility for my choices.

     6. A great point to ponder on Tim. Every choice throughout the day either is made for responsibility or comfort. We may go to the fridge to get something for ‘lunch time’ but before that was a choice for responsibility or comfort, what if we didn’t need to eat? Comfort is also choosing to follow a certain pattern, and not feel who we are without following our ingrained choices. This is very interesting indeed, because we all like to go with things that are familiar, but familiar things are not necessarily evolving us and could be harming us, like a person that grabs a beer at 4 o’clock at the end of the day, that behaviour certainly is not good for the body, but the choice beforehand was comfort, because if it was responsibility the person would know that if they choose that they will be more dull afterwards and have to recover the next morning/day.

        1. Beautifully put Harry and responsibility is huge here, there are many choices in our day and so I find that we are constantly being asked to be responsible and this can also be fun and playful.

        2. Yes absolutely agree aminatumi!

        3. My understanding of ‘responsibility’ was previously limited to work, family and more to do with how we do things and interact with people but now responsibility is so much deeper and clearer for me. I now understand that in our every choice we have a responsibility to choose to stay in comfort (delay) or evolve and expand. It is so simply and deeply empowering.

     7. I love the way you have pared it down to its essence Tim – comfort or responsibility. I too am aware of this, each and every day a constant unfolding, each choice a reflection of how much I’m loving me.

     8. Yes Tim I am constantly facing that same choice of eating food out of comfort or taking responsibility for what I choose to eat that is healing and not dulling.
        I notice the desire to eat out of comfort is strongest when I am not wanting to feel something that I am holding in my body. Yesterday I felt to eat out of comfort after a challenging interaction took place with someone and I felt a deep hurt. The desire to numb the pain was great, but instead I choose to lie down on my bed and give myself the space to feel and connect to my body. This felt very loving and much more supportive and nourishing then any food I may grab out of comfort.

        1. This is amazing Nicole. It takes great strength to do what you did, more often than not we tend to opt for the easy way and that is to comfort ourselves, reaching for food instead of giving ourselves space to feel our hurts. What you’ve shared is inspiring and very loving way to deal/heal with our hurts whenever they arise.

     9. I often find myself falling for the comfort of food especially when I’ve had a busy day at work and wanting to seek a reward- which is a pattern I have done throughout my nursing career.
        You have reminded me that to choose comfort (for self) is to avoid responsibility – for there is a bigger picture at play.

     10. Thank you 1timrobinson, your comment is so honest. I can so relate to what you’ve shared. I feel like I am constantly asked to choose ‘comfort or responsibility’ in my everyday choices. Nowadays, I am opting for more and more in choosing and taking responsibility, thanks to all the amazingly inspiring people I have met at Universal Medicine, deeply inspiring me and reminding me that the loving choices of responsibility is forever assisting us to evolve.

     11. Agree Tim, it is simply a choice of responsibility and honesty of the ways we use food to hold back in life.

     12. I find what presents itself many times a day is an awareness that something isn’t quite right – I usually absorbed something that wasn’t loving for me. What I then do about my feeling not quite right makes a big difference.

         1. Yes, it certainly does Christoph. To bring more awareness to not absorb anything that is unloving in the first place and then to learn from situations where we have soak it up helps us build on our awareness more and more.

     13. This is true Tim, we are free to make whatever choice we want in what we put into our bodies, and they always respond accordingly. Place toxins in, then our body will feel this and communicate it so. When we support it through preparing our food and eating lovingly, then equally it is allowed to heal those past choices and make way for vitality and joy to beam from every cell. Our body reflects so much to us, and can be our greatest teacher if we allow it to be.

     14. So true 1timrobinson, it is awesome to appreciate how incredible our bodies are, always lovingly reminding us of our choices.

165. So true, and there’s a Buffett of it everywhere we turn- pick your poison.

166. It’s amazing how much we can abuse our body with food and not think it’s such a bad thing. When clearly our bodies are saying otherwise.

     1. Our eating needs to be based on what our body wants and needs for it to be vital. It is not about looking good, but about feeling fantastic, and the looking will follow.

     2. I used to make excuses to overeat or choose junk food, basically abusing my body with food, but I would never have thought that. Now, I am aware that anything that is not loving is a form of abuse, no matter how seemingly trivial.

     3. Such a simple thing Emily and yet how we struggle to deal with it. It highlights that there is something not so intelligent behind the way we think.

167. You write that “I had this idea that I was healthy and I was looking after myself because I wasn’t overdoing it with junk food”. I can totally relate to that, thinking I was eating a healthy diet because I never ate junk food but was loading up on dairy and ‘good’ bread. But not so, these were making me extremely dense, heavy and dull.

     1. Good point. We can use food (and everything I guess) in a healthy or unhealthy way. WHY we eat what we eat is the interesting (and responsible) point.

168. “I now see food and lifestyle as my medicine and preventative.” What a great way to see it.

169. I have found that my thoughts around food have caused more disruption than the actual food itself. I definitely can feel the result from eating food that my body no longer needs as it tells me so loud and clear. However, it is the rhythm of my day or week that determines exactly how I feel and that in turn directly determines what food I think I should have and this is where it gets confusing, the thinking. Sometimes I find myself open up the fridge for something to eat or I want to eat something I know I definitely don’t eat, need or want. I can catch myself now and ask my body the question “do I really need this food right now”, almost always it is a no. So I take it back a step and feel what is happening in my body, name it and bring it out to the surface. So what I felt initially that the problem was the food I wanted to eat or was eating, but the real issue is all the thoughts that make my choices and why they are there.

     1. Really great analysis Matthew, thank you. I can relate to this kind of mental argy-bargy too, which is really just the bridge between not wanting to feel what’s really going on and eating to side-step feeling the feelings.

        1. Yes, Matthew and Victoria, when I find myself craving food it is a sure sign that there is something going on that I am not willing to feel. To be responsible for stopping to check in and clock what is going on, leads to greater awareness about myself and the truth in my body – and it often does not need food after all.

     2. Thank you Matthew. I can relate to what you’re saying here. A great question to ask ourselves particularly when we’re feeling out of sorts: “do I really need this food right now”. A great example of how we bury whatever’s there to come up out of our body with food if we don’t catch it.

170. “I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food.” – Interesting? For me it looks like we find everyone our own special way to abusing us, be it food, lack of self worth, alcohol, sport, arrangements – but why abusing us at all? How would life be by not abusing us, but by accepting, appreciating and celebrating the wonder and grace of beautiful me? I just made a deal with a friend this year to send us a ‘appreciating of ourselves’ every day as a little text message and can say: to appreciate me, and be it just for one thing on my day and share this with a friend does change my life. What I found is: If I am worth (what I am), then it is so: what I am and what I do counts. I am responsible for every choice I make. And if I am not ‘ready’ for this truth – I will abuse myself as hard as needed to not realize it.

     1. Yes, food is just one of the drugs we can choose, as you say Sandra we find our own special way. Why abuse at all? Good question, as it’s astounding the extent to which we have made abuse normal. And that’s every single one of us, in myriad ways, from overeating to being less than loving towards ourselves in our thoughts. I like your appreciation resolution – and revelation. Responsibility seems to be the bottom line for most things in life.

     2. So true – abuse begets abuse until we stop and take stock of what is really going on and how that truly makes us feel.

     3. I love the point you make here Sandra. It looks like when self abuse is so rife, the very last thing on our agenda is to even consider we are amazing already and that there is volumes to appreciate. We have reduced ourselves so much and have normalised self negation so much that we struggle to find even one new thing a day to truly, lovingly and joyfully accept about ourselves! Getting to the point where amazing is the new normal for us all is a day I am very much looking forward to realising.

        1. Let’s start today michelle819, right now with accepting our amazingness and so make it ‘normal’ right now.

171. Feeling bloated, numb or racy make you feel uncomfortable but they don’t stop you in your ‘doingness’. They don’t make you feel sick like the flu does for example. We lack responsibility and awareness in accepting any discomfort in the body is an illness.

172. Giving up dairy for me was easy as it was never my friend and yet I was so loyal to it. Gluten on the other hand was way harder, much harder than I thought it was going to be. I didn’t think I had a relationship with gluten so why was it so hard to give up? Tiredness and lack of responsibility, that is why it was hard to give up. Nearly all quick and easy meals have gluten in them. To take gluten out of my diet I had to allow more acceptance and self love into my body which started generating more energy. The more vital I feel, the more love and support I have for what I eat.

     1. That’s a great connection to make – between gluten and convenience. I’ve long stopped eating gluten and dairy but I can say the same relationship of convenience can exist between myself and tinned tuna (high in stimulating salt) and nuts (a sometime comforting dairy substitute). But you’re right – I’ll usually go for these options when can’t be bothered to prepare something or have not given myself the time to do so. A great realisation about needing to go deeper with the self-love! Note to self: have more nurturing meals to hand, ready to go when needed.

        1. Yes, having back up meals for the days we are not vital is a great idea. Each mouth full will be a spoonful of love when I need it the most. I didn’t realise that nuts could be used as a dairy substitute as comfort food. This has shone some light on a matter I was aware of but not knowing why.

173. And to add, gluten and dairy also eliminated as part of my journey towards only eating foods that are free of toxins. It wasn’t until I gained awareness of gluten that I fully appreciated how gluten dominates the processed foods market. Without gluten in my diet I have more, not less energy and feel more vital. I eat simply now: fresh foods, leafy green vegetables, fish, occasional lamb, and drink water and herbal teas. It reflects a spectrum of more natural and organic foods our ancestors would have eaten before food was taken over by profiteers, commercialism and big business. Choosing my own way to live, have a deeper relationship to the food I eat and not be seduced by the rah rah of the food industry is liberating.

     1. I agree. It’s great to be a fringe-dweller at the supermarket! I recently joined my local (nationally-driven) supermarket’s loyalty program, aware that the purpose of these is to track consumption and tailor product offerings and offers to individual shoppers and their families. But I’m figuring I can offer them something in return: a picture of someone who eats in a very different way to the norm. Perhaps this is another way a healthier trend can be initiated.

        1. Hi fellow ‘fringe dweller’. It’s great to be in a supermarket, home in on specifics foods (about 5% of what is on offer) and leave. I love what you share, each time you shop, you leave a distinct footprint of healthier food preferences and we can all do the same. This sends a powerful message to retailers that people are making different lifestyle choices.

174. There is a history of diabetes in my family.and a number of people I know have just been diagnosed. As a student and in my twenties I was made aware of my risk of diabetes, I began to moderate my sugar intake, but without true awareness or commitment. A young complementary practitioner I visited twenty years ago also sent me a signal. She examined by tongue and said ‘You have a sugar addiction’. Again I made a few changes, tried to stop eating chocolates, but a weak attempt. Eight years ago, I attended a seminar by a nutritionist where she demonstrated actual levels of sugar in foods and the hidden sugars in food. I was shocked. I started to share this information with others in my own presentations, but my own attachment to sugar remained. Then came Serge Benhayon’s presentations. He talked about the true causes of illness and disease, self responsibility and the choice open to us to develop a more nurturing relationship with our bodies or continue doing what we have always done, live in ignorance and eat without awareness. I got the message! For the first time I began the process of eliminating sugar from my diet with awareness and commitment: raw sugar, chocolate, fructose, honey, secondary sugars in carbohydrates. Sugar and sugar substitutes are everywhere. I abandoned old beliefs, rice is a staple food in my culture and replaced rice with vegetables. To date I have not received a diagnosis of diabetes, Preventative medicine in action.

     1. Fantastic account, thank you Kehinde and a great study in preventative health. I’ve just been watching a well-known documentary on sugar and its impacts are astounding. What the food industry creates is criminal – but then we’re the ones not taking responsibility for ourselves and pushing back. If we all stopped OKing and wanting sugar, they’d have to respond.

175. Daily, I’m aware of how little people know about food and the human body. There is a lot of conflicting information about health in the media, I’m sure many do not relate these to themselves, are confused or scared and end up dismissing all research evidence that challenges the way they live their lives. Recently and in a single day, I spoke with three people in the small town by phone all had colds, coughs, and felt unwell. One person said she had suffered with asthma for years, had constant problems with sinuses, had low energy and had been feeling unwell for months. I asked if she had ever considered eliminating diary from her diet, she hadn’t. I shared the reasons why I stopped eating diary over a decade ago. We had a conversation about foods that contained dairy and bridging foods. She listened, was curious and open to receive more information and do her own research. There are millions of people in the same position of ignorance, doing what they’ve always done and where iil-health has become a norm, simply because they don’t have access to true information or don’t know how to do something different. There is also the question of choice. I always remember that I was the same before I met Serge benhayon whose presentations offered me a different way to live and and relate to my body. I often share with others that I too had to learn how to eliminate gluten, dairy and sugar from my diet. It did’t happen overnight. Having done so, feeling well in my body, having energy, being fully committed to and enjoying life is my new normal and I would not have it any other way.

176. It is interesting isn’t it how we look around us and look at the more extreme examples of addiction or ill health and we then convince ourselves that we are doing ok, even if our bodies actually don’t feel that great.

     1. The problem I see is that what was once ‘ill in health’ is today ‘normal in health’. The standards have changed, adjusted to the general health and well-being levels. But we need to blind ourselves to believe that we are by any means truly healthy.

     2. Agreed Andrew, the normal parameters of health keep shifting as we get sicker and sicker, to the point where health is not about wellness but the absence of too much ill health. A model of health should always come from the feelings that we are abundantly well, vital and energised, not the absence of major disease. Our mark of health and vitality is something we can continuously improve on, that should inspire us not overwhelm us.

177. It is really quite amazing how we over-ride what our body tells us with an experience is so real and yet we still choose to trust the opinions of others even though we experience results which are just as real and unpleasant.

     1. Such is the pull of food that will bring us comfort, or numbness so we don’t have to feel how terrible we actually feel. I saw a recipe book on comfort eating recently, and it occurred to me that the chef was very overweight and his life all about eating. There is so much to be missed out on in life by making your eating about comfort.

178. It is great Chan that you are now listening to your body again and eating according to how it feels rather than what you are told to eat by others. I know when I was growing up in Australia I suspected that I was reacting to gluten and dairy and sugar but because everyone around me was eating it by the truck full I doubted what I felt. To have it simply presented to me by Universal Medicine that these foods could possibly not be great for our bodies when I was in my mid-twenties was awesome because it was a great confirmation of what I had felt all along and gave me the courage and support you could say to start making changes to my lifestyle.

     1. It seems that we spend a lot of time looking out at what others are doing in terms of how we look, how we dress etc., and even in what we eat, though our own body shows us otherwise. Could it be we don’t want to feel another and how uncomfortable they are with their food choices as well as take responsibity for our own choices and how vital we could actually feel? How much more well could society be if we All paid attention?

179. Yes, Marika, legal, free and well accepted to an absurd level, if we are looking at junk food and the generally increasing amount of sugar in (nearly) everything you can buy in a supermarket. One amazing side-effect of cutting out sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol and coffee from one’s diet is, to be able to pass 95% of the shelves in a supermarket. Supermarkets are a kind of legal, well advertised, ablazed with light “drug-traffic-centers”.

     1. So true Stefanie. ‘Cutting out ‘sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol and coffee from one’s diet’, for me this means I have such a simple, nutritious and un-altered, unprocessed diet. I feel fantastic because of this!

180. Being who you are and expressing it through nurturing and feeding yourself lovingly is amazing Chan. Turning back to your diet of origin, in your first seven years, through Universal Medicine, shows another aspect of how we are abusing food (I feel very familiar with), as a way to fit in and feeling seemingly connected with others. This seems like a collective addiction, hiding also the collective trying to numb oneself. How amazing, to cut this addiction and misbelief to come to true connection with oneself and others.

181. Cases such as what is outlined here, and those who have refined their diet and found greater clarity, vitality and health need to be studied. Why are we putting so much emphasis on laboratory tests ingredients of food, when we don’t even bother to gauge whether those ingredients in that form and that combination is even digestible by humans – such as the common misconception about the goodness of dairy for human beings. Of course there is the financial gain for some interested parties, but there is also our choice to not listen to our bodies and go for the easy ride – which in the end is not an easy ride when our body goes enough is enough and starts to cleanse itself of our disregarding choices such as food as was the case with diabetes in this article.

     1. This is so true Golnaz, ‘Why are we putting so much emphasis on laboratory tests ingredients of food, when we don’t even bother to gauge whether those ingredients in that form and that combination is even digestible by humans’, these are the basics – is this food actually beneficial or harmful for humans, our bodies can answer this and yet dairy for one is sold everywhere and the harm it causes is not widely spoken about, sugar is starting to be recognised as harmful and has been talked about a lot recently in the media, the same needs to happen with gluten and dairy as these are just as harmful.

182. Great article Chan- Gestational diabetes is becoming very common nowadays especially amongst Asian woman. You have raised an important point that diet has been a major contributor to this – not following the diet that you naturally grew up on – gluten and dairy free and low in sugar.

     The complication with gestational diabetes is also the fact that the baby tends to be much larger, so there can be difficulties with labour, leading to obstucted labour resulting in need for an emergency caesarian section. The baby then may have problems with low blood sugar and need specialised care to control this.

     1. Thank you Loretta, diabetes really seems to lead to one issue after another much more than we may realise.

183. Changing our diet can have massive differences on how we feel and what our body displays. I grew up with foods like dairy, cakes, bread, pasta, sugar, lollies etc etc and decided to change the way I ate when I was 16, something wasn’t working for me. I decided that Gluten and Dairy were OUT. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

     1. We think that we need to change our diet so we can “be healthy”, but really the diet changes being spoken of here give us much more than that, they give us space to enjoy life, and energy to be who we are in whatever we do.

184. As I work in a Asian company in Europe, I see how Asian people are aware that their food is actually lighter and better for the body – but similar to you Chan, adapt to the western food habits. This is actually crazy, that we override what we know is good for us.

     1. I agree Sonja I have travelled many times to many Asian countries and I have noticed more and more that the diet is shifting towards a more westernised diet with more dairy, sugar and wheat based products. There must be something about gluten and dairy and sugar that is common to all humans that we desire even though we know that they are not supportive for our being or our body.

        1. It’s really concerning Andrew how dairy is taking off in Asia, in a massive way. Their bodies won’t be able to handle it, just like the Aboriginals and alcohol.

185. I’d be a billionaire too Marika! It is such an insidious pattern, ingrained from very young and starting from a bottle being offered to stop babies crying when they aren’t actually hungry, offering children treats for eating their dinner etc. I imagine if we were all educated from very young to, as you say, “eat to nourish”, that no-one would be seeking comfort in foods that make them feel terrible afterwards and many foods would become obsolete in our diets, many entire rows of products would be deleted from supermarkets.

     1. A truly beautiful perspective jeannetegold, and further on, presenting a self-loving way to our children by living example would be the best way to change society’s relationship with food. I can also relate to becoming a “rich woman”, if I had a dollar every time I ate when I ‘needed’ food rather than nurture myself, but from changes I have made and times of being self-loving, I am able to naturally feel the abusive potential in every nut I want to eat from a need and leave it lovingly. Very amazing change, I am looking forward to explore deeper for the rest of my life.

186. Chan your blog is very inspiring and supporting, not only for pregnant women, to feel into their diet and their vitality or their illnesses.

187. Viewing “.. food and lifestyle as my medicine” is what the Ageless Wisdom has presented to humanity since the beginning of time.

188. I agree absolutely. It is legal and it delivers exactly what people strive for. E.g. Exhaustion – sugar in all foods or coffee with sugar and milk. You can’t but take it in, if you stop it, you feel to collapse.

189. This is the drug aspect to food “comfort, distraction or to numb what I was feeling” – Food labeling might need an overhaul!…and become a whole lot more explicit – rather than focus on the calories and Recommended Daily Allowance.

190. It is Marika, no doubt.

191. There are a few people who take the tablets and carry on with their lives as normal, allowing medicine to support them but taking no responsibility for themselves. How much simpler all round when we start to look after our own bodies and refine our diet so that we are less dependent on external resources.

192. Food is our greatest drug – even though we do not think to see it in this light.

     1. Very true Adam. As a race we use food instead of appreciating it for its true purpose to nourish our bodies.

     2. Yes indeed, Adam, this is a truth that the general population are reluctant to look at, as it requires us to take responsibility for the emotions and reactions that we cover up by eating.

     3. I think you’re right Adam. Instead of using food to nourish the body we use food to suppress the body so we can no longer hear it’s voice and feel the hurt of abandoning ourselves.

     4. I absolutely 100% agree with this and the most difficult to admit to as we justify it because we think we need to eat certain foods or a certain amount of it. When we listen to and take notice of the body though it is whole other story – this is when we clearly see food as the drug it is.

193. Great to read about an MD citing change of diet as part of the problem and assisting patients to look at lifestyle choices as part of their medicine.

194. Thanks Chan for sharing all your revelations of your personal development in the last years. Your sentence “I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food.” reminded me, often it is not alcohol, drugs etc., it is our little choices during the day, which can make a big difference, if we feel well or bad. Every single movement, every single choice counts.

195. There must be something really deeply healing about Universal Medicine and its healing modalities. Again and again I read about and witness people (including myself) who are able to let go of their addictions, whatever they may be, with the help and support of Universal Medicine, its practitioners and students. Something worth observing and studying.

     1. I second that Felixschumacher8 and Elizabeth. I thought it would be impossible to give up my addiction to sugar, yet I did over the course of a year, with the support of the Sacred ESoteric Healing Modalities, which supported me to look to the root problem of my sugar addiciton.

196. Cutting out gluten and dairy for me was one of the most life changing experiences when it came to the quality of my health. For many years I was unable to work due to IBS complications and many other health issues, and what I thought was a healthy diet turned out to be causing all kinds of health problems. Very quickly I started to see a change in my health, my weight didn’t drop very quickly but I felt as though I had more energy and pain in my body reduced drastically, and the IBS cleared up. My body was relieved as I was finally listening.

     1. It’s amazing how much our body reacts to the foods we eat and our choices, that we only begin feeling when we start to let go of distractions and refine our lifestyle. You give a great example Julie – you would have never known that your body had more energy to give, and that you were dulling yourself with foods unless you had chosen to give them up!

        1. Absolutely Susie, I never would have known the amazing differences I now feel in my body, my vitality and how light I feel, if hadn’t chosen to give up certain foods. There came a critical point though when I knew “enough is enough” with some foods and it is only after a while of not having them, I could see how I was actually being affected. I had come to accept things like dullness, heaviness, being bloated, fogginess as normal. These things really should be talked about when they do celebrity nutritionist consults on morning TV!

        2. Me too Harry. Initially I thought that the only way I reacted to foods was through bloating, but actually I now find that some foods make me feel dull, tired and heavy. It is definitely a relationship that needs constant development and evaluation.

197. This is an amazing sharing for everyone Chan and shows clearly the choices we have with what we eat and the illusions we may be under with our way of living. The way of the livingness shown to us by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine really is true medicine for life and is the support for being all we are with a simplicity and knowing. Thank you.

198. Thank you Chan for your honesty in sharing your journey with accepting what foods your body needed to support it and following through on that at your own pace. It took me 20 years of being aware that my body did not tolerate gluten but feeling it was too much effort to do anything about it (the immediate increased vitality more than offset needing to pre-prepare eg lunches to take to work etc) so I can really relate to the arrogance of knowingly carrying on eating foods that did not support me for years before being willing to truly listen to the messages my body was sharing.

199. It’s Inretesting to re-read your article Chan Ly, I can feel how we can think we are healthy because we don’t eat as much junk food as other people we know or because we don’t drink and smoke, your article shows how there is much more to being healthy and that true health is listening to our bodies and feeling what foods and drinks are right for us not what we are told is ‘healthy’.

200. Thank you for sharing your story Chan Ly and I was curious to know what this type of diabetes was.
     Diabetes UK quotes on their website
     “Gestational diabetes is a type of diabetes that affects pregnant women, usually during the second or third trimester. Women with gestational diabetes don’t have diabetes before their pregnancy, and after giving birth it usually goes away..”
     Having read your informative blog, what came to me is that during pregnancy you are really in a time and space in your life when something Divine is going on inside you. Something that our brains and minds cannot completely grasp as it is beyond what we think we know.
     So could it be possible that in this divine state you are shown by your body anything that is not in its natural order and then your doctor also confirmed it was related to the food you were eating? Possible?
     What is interesting is that you continued to eat the foods that your body truly did not want for another 6 years and this is the million dollar question for all of us?
     Why do we KNOW something that will truly support our body and then make the choice to continue ignoring it and in this case 6 years?
     I was the same I knew something was wrong when I had 4 mis-carriages but made some ugly choices to ignore anything my body was trying to communicate to me.
     Thank God I came across the teachings of Serge Benhayon which was a life changer in every way for me and my partner.

201. Chan – you share a huge topic here that so many of us can learn from. We can easily think we are OK because we do not choose extreme forms of abuse – ie drinking too much, drugs or alcohol – but at the same time we make up for it by indulging in something else, and food is usually an easy way to go about this.
     It is as you say very easy for us to abuse ourselves with food – and before it is classed as unhealthy, the question should be ‘how does my body feel’ – if we use that as a constant marker, we are our own filter – and if we honour how our body is feeling, it makes such a huge difference. But the question comes down to how are we willing to live? Do we crave the comforts and therefore cannot live without them, or do we choose to accept that food is medicine as you say, and that food can be used to heal or harm, and we are actually very very aware of this and what is supportive for our bodies.

202. Wherever we are in life, it is worth pausing to reflect on how we live now and why we still choose to buy and eat food that doesn’t support our bodies. Even if we have stopped eating gluten, dairy and sugar, the body constantly seeks greater delicacy and refinement in the food we eat. I am just learning this myself. Over time something I once ate and loved, feels wrong, I can’t eat it any longer and stop. The relationship we have with food, like all relationships must evolve: continuing to do something because we always have (or even if a change is recent) leads to stagnation.

     1. Brilliant comment kehinde2012, I have experienced the same thing with food. By listening to my body the foods that I used to love I also no longer eat because I get tired, headachy or takes me away from feeling myself. Trusting our body and allowing it to guide us is a very loving way to live. Our body is highly intelligent, it really is amazing to love and support it as best we can.

203. What I deeply appreciate about this blog is how incredible our body is at showing us how we are living and the effect it is having. This may be small subtle signs, such as feeling a little tired after eating a certain food, or a large sign such as diabetes. The more I embrace this the greater I am able to take responsibility for my health.

     1. True David, our bodies are actually incredible and we have no idea just how so until we learn how to listen to it. We are very educated physical body ‘mechanics’ but on its energetic make up we are not. Connecting to and understanding the energetic mechanics of our body is the most fascinating and potentially life changing science ever – for us as individually and for humanity as a whole.

     2. That’s so true David and taking responsibility for our own healthy is the best investment we can make. Money, wealth and success doesn’t mean much if our health is compromised. We cannot buy our health but we can certainly choose to live it.

204. I love the point you make about how when you listen to your body, it does communicate quite clearly. I used to consider myself an omnivore… literally I would eat anything and when I was doing sports it would be lots and lots of everything. About 10 years ago I started to change my diet, and gradually have become more sensitive… I can feel quite clearly what suits me, and what does not. Of course I still have a choice to ignore the messages… or to evolve my diet to what my body is telling me.

     1. Haha! Ominvore. Love it Simon.

     2. I can relate Simonwillams8, I would shuffle anything that was easy and handy to eat, the less time to prepare the better! I treated my body like a dustbin….. These days I take great care over what I eat and love to prepare and my food tastes so yummy with the love and attention I now give it. I don’t always get it right, but my body soon lets me know. And I am starting to be aware just how much our food choices affect us – in that our choices can hold us back (because our body no longer requires a certain food, but we continue eating it anyway) or we heed the message and let it go, increasing our awareness.

        1. Yes Jacqmcfadden04, I agree. Our food choices can assist us to be more aware and sensitive or can dull us down and makes us feel heavy. I am paying more attention to my body with regards to how I feel after eating certain foods. Sometime I could feel extremely tired after eating because I wasn’t paying attention to what my body was telling me. So, from my experience I agree that our food choices certainly affects us almost instantly.

     3. This is so true, by caring and loving our body it does become more sensitive, I have experienced this too. The foods that I used to love, I choose to no longer eat because it makes me very sleepy, I get grumpy and lose my connection. For a short term taste sensation, it is simply not worth it, the side effects lasts much longer. I feel it is harming to myself and to others when I make unloving food choices because I am no longer connected to myself.

205. Very inspiring to read your account Chan. Whenever I make food choices that don’t work for my body, it lets me know straight away. I have been trying to deal with the stubbornness that keeps me going back to these choices, but that’s where I have been going wrong. The trick is to go to the feeling I am trying to numb by eating those things.

206. Abuse through food is a worldwide problem showing the rise in diabetes over the years. Reading your blog Chan it just shows how addictive certain foods can be and that we can actually eat ourselves an illness.

     1. I agree Mariette – abuse through food is a worldwide problem and does result in much illness and malaise. The support Universal Medicine gives to develop greater connection and honesty with our self to see what emotions are the driving force behind destructive behaviours is invaluable and so needed in the world right now.

     2. Yes, it’s shocking when you consider certain foods can and do make us ill. Most of us already know what they are but choose not to acknowledge or make any changes because the comforting feeling and taste sensation is too enticing to give it up. I have experienced this myself and it was through healing my hurts and working through issues I was carrying that I was able to make changes and embrace a loving way of life. Without the support and teaching of Universal Medicine I don’t think I would have discovered this empowering way of living, The Way of The Livingness.

        1. And if you take a close look at what is on offer around us, like now, I am sitting at Bristol airport and it is all sugar, carbs, alcohol, coffee and food that does not support us. Food is everywhere and it is so socially acceptable to eat, that we don’t see it as an abuse. But it is, we self-abuse with food.

207. Thank you Chan. A truly informative sharing. Interesting to me too were the symptoms you had. The reason being that I had the exact symptoms, no energy had to go lie down after the smallest task, being totally exhausted ! I would have considered myself to be healthy at age 25 and I was sightly underweight, this was 40 years ago, and I was pregnant again after a miscarriage and this lasted for the first 3 months! The inexperienced Doctor I saw said this was a normal fatigue for pregnancy! I didn’t think so. But like you it wasn’t until I cut out gluten and dairy and caffeine that I felt much healthier, thanks to the inspiration of Universal Medicine I feel much more vital, need less sleep. Much to ponder thank you Chan.

     1. That’s very interesting Roslyn, I wonder if the doctors recognised gestational diabetes back then. Because I experienced this fatigue with my second pregnancy I knew something was not right. I often wondered if I had stayed gluten and diary free keeping to a similar diet as when I was a young child and cut out refine sugar, would I have developed gestational diabetes? I have a feeling I wouldn’t have.

208. Similar story – I had given up dairy in my early 20s because of my continual sinus problems which subsequently totally cleared up, only to go back to eating dairy once I got the relief I had wanted. I so craved the creamy comfort it was providing on a daily basis. Eight or so years ago, inspired by what Serge Benhayon was presenting, I gave it another go and haven’t looked back. My vitality and stamina have increased manifold and I need a lot less sleep – and I can let myself feel a lot more of what is really going on, in me and around me because I am not coated in protection and enveloped in sticky sweet comfort.

     1. Awesome Gabriele. Certain foods can make you feel, sluggish, heavy and dull. It is very common to eat foods for comfort and to protect ourselves from feeling a sense of emptiness.

209. In modern society we have been going for diets and exercise to return to what we think is our right shape, energy drinks, sugar and caffeine to regain what we think is our true vitality, self-empowerment courses/books and even alcohol to regain our gaiety and ability to interact in life. Yet – all along we have the actual true support for us to have a level of vitality, joy, harmony and openness with people and with life far surpassing what we have ever dreamed of. Whenever I choose to listen and allow this to unfold, I am blown away.

210. Great Blog post Chan. I especially love that you made changes only when you felt you were ready and once you had connected deeper to yourself not because you were told to. I was expecting that once the doctor suggested it was your change of diet you would have made immediate changes in reaction. But, instead, whilst you continually kept ignoring the reasons for where your health was at, you actually knew all along, you simply weren’t ready to take responsibility at the time. So honest! Thank you.

     1. Yes that’s right Elodie, no one could have told me to give up gluten, dairy, caffeine and refine sugar all at once. I wouldn’t have been able to do this unless I was severely sick but from the teaching of Universal Medicine I was able to decide for myself and made these choices out of love. The reason I have been able to sustain this consistency with food was because I was ready to embrace the changes that I knew I needed to make since a long time but felt powerless to make them until I was introduced to Universal Medicine. From then on every loving choice seems to be easier and easier because I started to understand about self-care, self-love, self-nurture. And one major factor was because I was healing from deep within, letting go of hurts and stuff I was carrying and was using food for comfort. The more I am willing to heal and let go, the more love I am allowing myself to experience and express.

211. This is an amazing story Chan, I love these discoveries you made along the way:
     I started having Esoteric Healing sessions from various practitioners and felt amazing every time. I started to feel lighter, more connected, gentle and tender. I was inspired to start taking care of myself, to be gentle, loving and nurturing.
     and
     “I wanted to see how my body felt by cutting out gluten, dairy, caffeine and refined sugar. I was very curious as to how I would go and I surprised myself by how amazing I felt after the first month. I felt energised, calmer, lighter and more clarity. I was feeling more myself, with less moodiness and I even started going to bed super early and waking up with vitality and no heaviness.”
     These are very powerful experiences that have been life-changing and life enhancing for sure!

     1. Thank you Rosannabianchini, I am deeply grateful for all the amazingly inspirational people I have met in the past 4 years. Every aspect of my life has improved as a result of my choices and from the deeply loving support and inspiration from people I have met at Universal Medicine.

212. Embedded in our social mores are expectations we come together to celebrate with meals, reward ourselves with food, drown our sorrows with food, express love through food, get through the day with food. Yet food is for sustenance, to nourish and support the body. We have instead made food tantalising and use it indulgently. The trick is to finding a balance between taste and function, and to find a way to craft delicious food that honours the body and isn’t use to dull, numb, excite or comfort us. There can still be plenty of love in food, but not of the emotional kind.

     1. My beautiful father taught me a simple lesson about food and sharing. He lived in Sierra Leone and when in his elder years sat daily by his window and observed the world. He asked me to sit and watch a family who lived opposite prepare, sit and share a meal. The family of many sat on the ground outside, one large plate of food rice with a simple stew was placed in the centre, each took a handful or two, and drank a cup of water. My father said simply that’s their only meal for the day and they work or school each day. A memorable lesson on in-equality and how millions of people eat to survive, not indulge. We need much less food, than we’ve been led to believe.

        1. A gorgeous story kehinde, which shows just how powerful observing life can be if we are open to the awareness and understanding that observation brings.
           I can also feel the wisdom of your father coming through too…our elders have so, so much to offer us all.
           And yes, “we need much less food than we’ve been led to believe” – this is so true. Food is used so much to cover up/suppress what we are feeling… and yet the more I feel my body, listen to my body’s messages and honour them, the less I need to eat – in the size of my meals and the number of meals: it is a natural diet that works and sustains itself!

        2. Wow. So true. Most of us now eat to indulge rather then eat to survive. We don’t look at the nutritional value, we look at how it will taste in our mouths, not caring about the effect it has on us. Our body certainly does not need as much as we have been lead to believe.

        3. I see at least 3 aspects of the way we eat. We eat to indulge, to survive and to increase our awareness. At some point we realise that indulging definitely does not support. Then we eat to survive and function realising that not nearly as much food is needed and that we don’t get any benefit from the endless culinary experiences and flavours. And finally we use food as a support to the body to become more aware, deeper feeling, and experience greater clarity in our thoughts and understanding. Through eating in this last way we support ourselves to become the vessel of wisdom we were always to be.

        4. Thank you Dean this takes our relationship with food to another level ‘we use food as a support to the body to become more aware, deeper feeling, and experience greater clarity in our thoughts and understanding. Through eating in this last way we support ourselves to become the vessel of wisdom we were always to be’.

        5. Yes very true Kehinde and what a powerful lesson to learn about how so many live in this world: “A memorable lesson on in-equality and how millions of people eat to survive, not indulge. We need much less food than we’ve been led to believe.” It’s true we can really live on much less food than we are led to believe and that many cultures indulge in over eating and in fact see it as quite normal, with a huge impact on our health. It does not mean that we need to deprive ourselves, but there is a much better balance to be struck on the quantity and quality of food we consume. As Victoria says, there are many ways to make wholesome food very tasty and enjoyable without eating ourselves senseless.

        6. Amazing comments, eating to indulge feels to me like an illness, something very unnatural and harmful to our body.

        7. Wow kehinde2012 your comment inspires me to look deeper into my relationship with food. This is an awesome reminder, ‘We need much less food, than we’ve been led to believe’, I agree. I am now eating maybe only a 1/4 of what I used to eat, I feel more energised and my body weight is the same. Overeating was hurting my body and feeling the discomfort from that was not pleasant.

     2. I agree Victoria, taste is important but not to the detriment of our bodies. Food can be a celebration, it is always better when it is made and shared with others. So while the food may be delicious, the nourishment also comes from the togetherness and the time shared with others.

        1. This is such a great point Stephen. “the nourishment also comes from the togetherness”. And we can enjoy this togetherness and use it as a way to support a healthy relationship with food.

        2. I love your comment Stephen. It seems that most of the food we choose to eat makes taste the top priority over nutrition and nourishment.

        3. Yes Chan Ly and also that nourishment comes from the way we prepare the food, and the time and care we take to eat it in full presence of our bodies and their responses. When I eat food while on a laptop I almost always overeat as I ignore my body telling me when I have had enough.

     3. I so agree Victoria – food is such a strong focus in everyone’s lives for all the reasons you mention and including survival, but it is the quality we bring to the food we prepare and eat that truly nourishes us.

        1. The types of food we eat have a massive impact on the way we think, act and go about things. And that is why entire cultures gravitate towards certain types of foods as they supporting their unique way of feeling, thinking and being.

     4. It’s so true Victoria that we can become taken over by the taste of food. I find that if I listen to my taste buds I often over indulge, but if I tune into my body and ask it if it is ready for food and what would actually support it I usually make a very different choice of what to eat, and when and how to eat it.

        1. To constantly communicate with our body and honour it is the best way to love, nurture and look after our health, wellbeing and our relationship with others.

     5. We have bastardised the meaning of food and through this negligence we have allowed our spirit free reign on indulgence or over indulgence. We are being irresponsible and it is costing us our health.

        1. I agree here, and this a worldwide issue that at some point will need to come to an end. It is concerning on many levels what will have to happen for true change to take place.

        2. If you choose not to see the truth then the truth will make you see it. Perhaps this is what all our illness and disease is, the truth, yet we still refuse to see it. I agree there will be many concerning things that will take place for change to happen.

213. I hear of many of people with diabetes, and from people who know they have an intolerance for gluten or dairy, who continue to ingest the foods that harm them, either because they can’t or won’t given them up. The addictive qualities of certain foods needs to be more widely explored, as do the reasons we crave them. This is a subject that needs greater air time.

     1. Agreed Victoria. There is not enough attention given to our relationship with food, the history of how sugar and salt have become so prevalent since the 1970’s, the effects of stimulants like coffee, alcohol and the other socially accepted drugs… imagine if we got schools to run experiments with pupils where they cut out foods or introduce others so the kids (and parents) could feel what was really going on.

        1. Thank you Simon, great comment. I know for sure that my mood is highly affected by certain foods, so when we look at behavioral problems with our children the factor of foods should be considered.

     2. I agree Victoria, it is not enough to simply know that some substances are bad for us, I knew for a long time that a lot of the things I ate were not truly nourishing but that never stopped me from consuming them. We need to take a deeper look at the real reasons why we get hooked in the first place and what drives us to consume substances that poison us. The turn around came when I was encouraged to take a moment to stop, connect with myself and to feel at a deeper level why I wanted these things. It has been a key tool in supporting me to relinquish the substances that actually hurt when I eat them. When we address our food issues from this angle, it enables us to get to the root of the emotions that drive the indulgence and from there we have a choice as to how we address it, to feed it further or deal with the real issue. What has been so amazing though is the more I have dealt with the issue, the easier it becomes to drop the indulgences, a positive feedback loop that has amazing consequences.

        1. This is great Rowenakstewart, we can apply what you share to all humanity’s addictions. By trying to cure just the addiction doesn’t work but going deeper and finding the root cause is key to regaining our innate power back.

     3. Agree Victoria, why these foods are available that are potentially harmful baffles me and also why people choose to consume harmful foods and substances should definitely be explored further.

     4. Yes – a great point. As of yet whilst we absolutely know that certain things are not good for us we still consume them. Alcohol is a prime example. We know it’s bad for us because we wouldn’t dream of giving it to a child. Yet when it comes to us as adults we override this and consume it anyway kidding ourselves of its “medicinal” value. Looking into to why we do this is a necessity that we can no longer afford to ignore.

214. ‘I was also aware that my chances of developing type 2 diabetes were now 25% higher than previously. I thought: “I’ll take my chances” and continued to live the same way.’

     It’s quite astounding the degree to which we can play Russian roulette with our bodies and our health. The spirit’s arrogance – our spirit’s arrogance – knows no bounds. If we lived in accordance with our soul, which loves and appreciates the body, we would never harm ourselves in the ways we do. Overturning our spirit and reconnecting with our soul is possibly the healthiest thing we can do.

     1. ‘Re-connecting with our soul is possibly the healthiest thing we can do’. Beautifully expressed Victoria, thank you.

        1. When we are deeply connected to our soul, it is then very difficult to make unloving choices, by choosing to connect to it consistently I feel will assist us to be more and more loving.

     2. ‘Overturning our spirit and reconnecting with our soul is possibly the healthiest thing we can do.’ Yes Victoria following our body/soul’s lead opens up a whole new understanding to what it is to live in a truly healthy manner.

     3. Yes, it is quite incredible how arrogant we can be in regards to our bodies. We take our chances and continue in the same disregarding, disrespectful ways of treating our bodies, and then are surprised or shocked when our bodies say ‘enough is enough’ and ‘suddenly’ develop dis-ease or illness…when it is us who have been ignoring our bodies messages all along! It is total arrogance, and one could even say stupidity really…we wouldn’t constantly put diesel in a petrol car engine and ‘take our chances’ so what makes us think we can treat our bodies this way?

        1. Great comment Paula, this is so true. It does seem pretty crazy I agree especially when you use refuelling our car as an example.

     4. Wow, you are bringing it to the point where we can’t hide anymore. I like it and I can relate to it. Great comment of wisdom and truth, Victoria, and very down to earth and practical at the same time.

     5. “Overturning our spirit and reconnecting with our soul is possibly the healthiest thing we can do.” Most definitely the healthiest thing we can do Victoria…who doesn’t recognise the arrogance of the spirit: when we know our body reacts badly to something yet we still choose to eat it (or even act out a behaviour). The difference between the soul’s choice and the spirit’s choice is, loving-choice and non-loving choice. It’s clear; a body honoured by loving choices brings health.

     6. True Victoria, “reconnecting with our soul is possibly the healthiest thing we can do” – just that by eating a lot of sugar we are putting our body in a vibration from which it is very very uneasy to re-connect to our soul. We in fact change our body in a way (with food or other stimulants) which make it hard to reconnect and nearly impossible to express the truth of our soul. It is like we have to make sure to not be able to connect or express truth by creating a body of hardness, restless, comfort, anxious or what ever. Why do we choose to not connect to our soul or even more: why do we make it nearly unable to reconnect to it? Maybe there is a natural pull towards our truth and so we have to work against it to stay with our illusion and unhealthy way of living?! And a lot in this world is supporting us on our unhealthy way … Not so Serge Benhayon, what can be quite a challenge of course. Great to get some examples here from people who made the choice back to taking responsibility for their health.

     7. So well said Victoria.

     8. This is so true Victoria. By choosing to connect to our soul, it is impossible to then choose to harm our body, ourselves or others in any way. When we are being soulful, our every choices is based on the solid foundation of love and truth, it unites us and brings harmony to ourselves and everything around us. It is through Universal Medicine that I have learnt how to connect to my soul. I am still learning to be in this connection consistently.

215. Thank you Chan for sharing through your lived experience how empowering it is to listen to our bodies and take responsibility for our health and well-being. It is commonly believed that our health is determined by only the absence of dis-ease and not by the presence of vitality and quality of our well-being. As with this we settle for living far less than what we and our bodies are capable of. I too from a young age could feel foods that did not sit well with me but chose to ignore this for many years until the messages from my body became too loud. When I began to listen and make changes to my diet accordingly I discovered that my vitality improved immensely, yet I was not able to maintain consistency with this. Through being inspired by the presentations of Serge Benhayon I have chosen to deepen my relationship with my body and loving myself and from here I have developed a consistency in honoring what supports my natural vitality and well-being.

     1. Great comment Carola, it has become clear to me that our understanding of true health is greatly misunderstood. We have certainly settled for less in terms of our health and like you said what ‘our bodies are capable of.’

216. Chan Ly what you have shared is truly empowering…The power of our own choices and the effects that they have on our body, our life and all around us. It’s very inspiring to read your story and how claimed you are about your life.

     1. So true Jennifer…reading your comment this morning brought an ah-ha moment for me of connecting the dots so to speak. I’ve been aware of the amazing positive changes that have occurred within myself and in my life, and knowing I’m way less reactive and emotional in life generally, but the missing link was not acknowledging and feeling just how much that positively impacts on others – thank you for the revelation!

     2. Thank you Jennifer, I love what you’ve shared..’The power of our own choices and the effects that they have on our body, our life and all around us’ This realisation has been a massive support for me, to understand the power of our choices and responsibility.

217. Regardless of the fact that most days and months of the year I am fit and healthy, I am still amazed by the wisdom by body has to offer and share with me. The difference between sitting down, and stopping to feel when sitting down is immense. When I allow myself to stop there is much to be felt, things that I didn’t even realise until that moment, sometimes it may be an awareness that actually I’m much more tired than I led myself to believe. In that awareness however I have a choice to honour myself and what supports me in that moment.

     1. Yes, Jenny, stopping regularly throughout the day just for a few moments to check in with the body and be open to its communication can make all the difference, as it gives us an accurate reflection of how we are living.

        1. That’s true, Janet, and shows, how important it is to heal our hurts and taking responsibility in connection with changing the diet, as otherwise these stopping moments can be very frightened and lead to the next abusive moment with food.

        2. Thank you for this beautiful, gentle reminder Janet. I can definitely start practising this too.

        3. It is so true Janet, not only does stopping to check in show us how we are living, but how we are responding to the way we live and how we really feel about the way we live. Super powerful if we are willing to just observe and make simple choices that align to what we are feeling.

     2. Thanks Jenny, reading your comment made me realise how much I don’t allow myself to really just listen to my body and honour it and what it is saying.

     3. Giving ourselves moment to stop and connect to our body is extremely powerful. Thank you for reminding me to do this more.

218. Thank you Chan. I know exactly what you mean by abusing your body with foods such as gluten, dairy and sugar. I have been highly allergic to gluten and dairy my whole life yet I did not give them up. It was as if I could not imagine a diet without those foods. The change also came for me when I attended presentations by Serge Benhayon and received esoteric healing sessions. The more I healed the hurts I was carrying and felt my body get lighter and lighter the less I wanted to put those foods into my body to pollute it so gradually I just stopped eating them and I had no problem finding other foods to eat. I have never felt better than I do now.

     1. I agree with all you share here Elizabeth…I never liked milk but would consume lots of cheese and yoghurt as though they were somehow different to milk! I tried giving up gluten years ago but couldnt get past the idea of not having bread – ‘how could I possibly live without bread?!’ and after attempting to make numerous gluten free breads, which failed, I continued eating gluten. It was only after hearing the truth of Serge Benhayon’s presentations and starting esoteric healing that I decided to try giving up gluten again, and dairy. To my surprise gluten dropped away quickly and easily – it was cheese that took the longest and was last to leave.
        Now my diet has changed even more with the fodmaps diet…but when my body felt so incredibly light after only one month of this diet there was no way I could ever go back to my old ways of eating. Feeling that lightness doesnt allow any space to even consider eating anything else. Some may say my diet is very limited but it is only limited by that perception. The number of foods I eat may be reduced but there are unlimited ways I can put them together to create a meal.
        I too “..have never felt better than I do now.”

        1. Awesome Paula. i have found there are so many delicious options yet we are only limited by our thoughts. When I cut out gluten I felt so much lighter but as my body adjusted to the lightness and vitality, I started to feel the heaviness and bloated stomach of eating good quality gluten free bread. So by listening to my body I have cut out eating anything that makes me feel heavy or sleepy. It only takes 20 mins for my body to show me signs that whatever I have eaten, my body is having difficulty processing. With this awareness I am choosing foods that are lighter and easily digestible, I am amazed that my body is continuously asking me to make more and more loving food choices. Eating according to what my body needs feels incredible and energising.

        2. Chan, your blog is inspiring to me in the sense that is shows me the importance of the connection with the body and also the (re)connection with the higher purpose of living as the Son of God on earth. For Universal Medicine is constantly sharing with us the importance of the body – from the Lived experience of the Connection to God and the way back to living that as a whole. It is only the choice to not connect to the facts that allows us to make choices that are against the Universal laws. It’s beautiful to read and feel how easily choices that seemed to be impossible to make, were just easily made once (re)connected.

     2. That’s great Elizabeth. It is amazing to read about your experience with food. It seems that many people may have allergic reactions to gluten and dairy but choose to ignore the signs. This can have devastating effects on the body long term. The choice to cut any foods/beverages that are harming our body is a very loving choice and our body is always the best food guide of all.

        1. Very true Chan. It’s not only gluten and dairy though. People (including myself now and again) disregard the body’s adverse reactions to sugar, processed foods and anything else, even the stuff that is labelled ‘health foods’ are not actually that healthy.

        2. This shows how important it is to stay connected to our body and listen to it with love and care.

     3. I can relate to rather abusing the body with food and not being able to just imagine to live without e.g. dairy products. This for me also was a side effect of missing me and searching to fill this emptiness not only with the food, but with food and drinks, everyone ingests on a daily basis. I was striving for connection so much, that I accepted any impact of food or also alcohol on my body to not feel alone and empty. After meeting Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine, I started to heal my hurts and feel my body with more honesty and care and were able to make more loving choices in regards to my addictions to food as a substitute for just feeling and being me.

        1. Thank you for sharing your experience Stefanie. It seems many of us have made similar choices with regards to trying everything possible to mask our feelings of emptiness. Why do we feel this emptiness? For me it was because I lost connection with myself (my soul), with nature and with God.

     4. So true Elizabeth, life without ice cream and bread and butter seemed impossible, but meeting Universal Medicine opened the door on a whole new world of true relationship that naturally included eating to nourish and support rather than numb out and hide. When we are supported to feel and heal our hurts, our diets naturally change, no struggle or denial required, we simply stop wanting to consume the things that hurt our bodies, the truest marker that deep healing has occurred within us.

        1. Brilliantly said Rowenakstewart, this is so true, once we embody more love by healing our hurts, we then naturally are more loving with our choices, be it food, exercise, work, relationships, etc.

        2. Ah Rowena, a thick slice of wholemeal bread, lashings of butter, and honey or homemade apricot jam! In retrospect I can feel now how comforting that was. If I tried to eat it now it would lie very heavy in my stomach. Having been born during World War 2 it tasted like heaven, yet in those war years, and in the rationing years afterwards, our diet had been much healthier. Maybe what people felt was deprivation in those years is the reason why when it all finished the food industry exploded new varieties of breads, cheeses, yoghurts, sugary treats, chocolates, into the market and milk became compulsory in schools; and maybe this contributed to covering up the hurts and sadness that occurred during the war when we were encouraged to grit our teeth and get on with it. It all became normal, and in those days there were very few foreign restaurants, just the occasional Chinese and Indian, and Italian (with pasta — big gluten). You were considered wierd if you didn’t eat these things. Then came the healthy diet boom and everyone giving different advice. No wonder many turned away and stayed with what they knew regardless of how their body felt. Ultimately it is only ourselves who can choose to pay attention to the signals our bodies are telling us, and feel what is right for us. This is what Serge Benhayon has done, and shares his knowledge with us. We have a choice to feel it for ourselves or not, but I have not met any student of Universal Medicine who has not found that when they eat light they feel light, and have much more energy and vitality and live a healthier life altogether, mind, body and soul.

     5. Awesome Elizabeth. “The more I healed the hurts I was carrying and felt my body get lighter and lighter the less I wanted to put those foods into my body to pollute it” it was the same for me also. When we heal our hurts and start feeling a little bit awesome and bring self love in, the need to bury and numb ourselves with food lessens.

        1. Healing the hurts we carry creates a space for joy and love in our lives that I had previously thought impossible. It is an everyday miracle.

        2. I know hey Heather, I agree. We all know this also, yet, as if blind, simply choose not to.

        3. This is beautiful to read, when we heal our hurts we no longer feel the need to find things to bury our hurts because they are no longer there. It creates a lighter feeling because we are no longer carrying our hurts in our body, it allows us space to then make more loving choices.

     6. I can definitely relate here Elizabeth as I have on many levels experienced the same. It is also an ongoing development as my body is very sensitive to salt, nuts, too much oil, and over eating and so I find I really have to be very present when I eat and feel what mood I am in when I am eating also as this really does impact how I feel after.

        1. That’s awesome Aminatumi, this is inspiring, Thank you.

     7. I can relate Elizabeth, for many years I knew gluten and dairy was upsetting my stomach and causing other health issues, but I still kept on eating them. Falling for the low fat and lighter bread options instead of cutting them out completely – nothing changed, except my health started to decline. Like you Elizabeth, since I cut out gluten and dairy my health has improved beyond words.

        1. Amazing Julie, so awesome you have now improved your health through making loving food choices. Sharing this will inspire others too.

     8. You bring up a great point here Elizabeth, the connection between our hurts and our food choices is very real and strong. We know we want to eat certain foods when something comes up and makes us feel uncomfortable, so rather than forcing a regime onto the body of what to eat and what not to eat, our choice of foods can come naturally from healing our hurts and letting the protection go.

        1. I can remember how I started to eat as a way of avoiding doing my homework. Looking back it was ridiculous really, as I always ended up doing my homework, after I had eaten my way through the kitchen!

219. Food is a big comfort that many don’t dare to approach. It is like you said accepted that smoking and drinking alcohol is bad for you and yes that fatty foods are not healthy etc. but really to go to the part of refining it to truly listening to what our bodies are saying is not done. I find food also one of the first things I go to when I do not feel good in myself.

     1. Thank you Lieke for sharing, I have done the same too, I have used food for comforting myself especially when I am feeling sad and down about something. Nowadays, I recognise my pattern with food and being more aware allows me to stop to reconsider my actions and choices.

220. Dear Chan,
     The truth of what you have shared here is unmistakeable. Your body changed dramatically from your choice to go gluten, dairy, sugar and caffeine free. You are living proof that these foods are as harmful to our bodies as alcohol is, yet this is not openly recognized or accepted by our society today.
     With articles like yours though it will be much harder for the truth to be ignored.

221. Chan Ly I too had been advised on many occasions by naturopaths that I may have a wheat and dairy intolerance. I did play around with eliminating wheat products for a few weeks to test this out, which raised my awareness as to how much wheat products permeate our packaged foods (even lollies). Dairy was a no go zone, I couldn’t imagine life without my cheese (washed down with a red wine, of course). However, after attending presentations with Universal Medicine for a couple of years I decided to gradually clear my pantry of gluten foods, and then tackled the dairy. What made it easy this time was I was no so dependent on these ‘comfort’ foods to make me feel good, and I was able to swap recipes and ideas with others, and it became an adventure, not a punishment. The best part was my body immediately changed shape as the bloating stopped, and my weight gradually dropped. Physically I was feeling so much better, so there has never been a moment of looking back.

222. Thank you Chan Ly for sharing how you made changes to your way of eating – like you say many people know that what they are eating is harming them but they don’t think that they could cope without certain foods or see it as too hard to make a change. Having inspiration from people who have actually developed more care and responsibility in the way they look after themselves and live is super helpful.

223. Reading this I felt just how much we take our health for granted and our responsibilty in it. What you have shared exposes just how food, especially certain types of food, are addictive and how the ingredients in foods such as gluten and sugar feed that addiction. My health, wellbeing, relationship with myself and others has also completely changed for the better after attending courses, presentations and workshops by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.

224. This blog is amazing Chan, thank you. In a few short words, you have re-defined what it means to abuse one’s body. It doesn’t have to only be with drugs and alcohol, rather with anything that does not support it. Any time our body gives us a message and we override that message, we abuse it. That’s a pretty massive revelation.

225. Chan it’s great to see such a direct relationship to food and our health, something that whilst is known by science and is often presented by the media comes with very mixed messages. It’s also an interesting comparison of food to other drugs like alcohol, narcotics or smoking as we often say we are healthy as we don’t do “those” things when in fact our bodies, as yours did, tell us what we’ve considered healthy i.e. “Milk”, “Cereals” are perhaps not so healthy. That has also been my experience.

226. “I now see food and lifestyle as my medicine and preventative for developing diabetes later in life. I am not taking any chances; I am taking responsibility for my choices.” This is an inspiring way to live Chan. We really are taking chances when we ignore the signals of the body. We never in fact get away with it, because our bodies do eventually tell us through illness and disease.

     1. That’s right Debra, when I was living irresponsibly with regards with my health and food, I knew I was taking chances and I was just hoping for the best. Now, I have been inspired to take responsibility and work on improving my way of living and consistently improving it as I go, listening to my body more and more. This is something we can all do if we so choose to.

227. It’s curious how we can settle for what looks good. If we are slim for example, often people take that as a sign of being healthy. Not drinking smoking or taking drugs are definitely healthy choices, but there are so many other things we do that don’t feel right yet we continue to do. Thanks for sharing your journey with food Chan. Our body tells us so much if we are prepared to listen.

228. This is an important piece about personal abuse and the perceptions we can have about it. As Chan tells us, it is possible to think that no abuse is taking place at all, when in fact the very foods we eat can be a part of an abusive relationship we have with ourselves. So by that measure, it is possible to start a more loving relationship with ourselves by attending to the foods we eat in response to what our bodies are telling us. Beautiful, thank you Chan.

229. Once upon a time I had very little awareness of how what I ate affected how I felt. I was so disconnected I could easily ho down a block of chocolate a day. Now days, if I eat anything that my body doesn’t agree with, it immediately shows me by feeling bloated, or I might become racy, or headaches. These days, I listen to my body and if I am reaching for food as a means to numb, my body will show this to me fairly quickly. These days, thanks to Universal Medicine, I listen to those signals.

     1. I made a practice birthday cake for my daughter yesterday as she is having her party next week. I ate some to taste test and before I knew it I had eaten a whole slice. It had no diary, no sugar and no gluten, but had been sweetened with honey and a jam glaze. I went back later that evening and had another one – now being hooked. What I am feeling is very interesting to observe. I feel much more cut off from myself and am having more difficulty feeling my body and feeling into my writing. It is taking me longer to process things as I feel like I am having to operate through a filter and I simply do not feel my fully alert and present self. I feel more tired as well, as last night my sleep was affected. I do not know if I will ever be tempted to eat cake again as I might be, but feeling like this as a result of having done so and being aware of the effects is going to act as a real deterrent especially as I value feeling vital, alert, present and connected.

230. Thank you for sharing Chan, it is amazing how much we can abuse our bodies with food, even some of the so called seemingly ‘healthy’ foods are not actually that healthy or good for us! It is amazing what marketing can do!

     1. It is amazing what marketing can do and how irresponsible we are with it. To promote a product as healthy when it has vast quantities of sugar in it, and for us as consumers to be OK with that shows how far we are from living what we know to be true!

        1. You just have to walk down the ‘health’ isle in the supermarket or go to a ‘health’ food shop and the products are laden with sugary alternatives just not ‘refined’ sugar bur sugar nonetheless. They can lure us into thinking we are making healthy choices and we accept it because we want to believe it rather than seeing through the packaging for what it truly is.

     2. I was watching the news yesterday and a man was being interviewed about a new comment on a report that had come out. A woman had claimed that there is no safe limit for any alcohol consumption. His reaction to this was fascinating. He truly believed that drinking moderately was good for your heart. He had clearly bought into the “marketing” around alcohol and was defending it to the hilt. He knows that alcohol will be the next thing after tobacco to be addressed by society and he was trying to stem off the tide but was so angry about it! This is such a clear example of how we abuse our bodies because we get something out of it, rather than feeling our bodies and letting it tell us what needs to be consumed to nourish it.

        1. Great example Michelle, it reminds me how I used to justify smoking marijuana because it was ‘natural’ but it is in no way good for the body. It goes to show much we can fool our minds into thinking or believing and justifying something is good for us when we know it is not.

231. Great Chan. It is amazing the messages we over ride and for years and years. It is incredible to listen to the messages the body sends and living in a way that nurtures those messages. It certainly is worth it.

232. I agree Doug. Our diet hugely affects our health, our mental well being, our ability to basically function harmoniously on a daily basis. This is not currently taken into consideration or appreciated on a wide scale. Some people are already aware of this but also many are not willing to accept it because it means taking responsibility, eliminating comforting and indulging foods/beverages. Research and studies are great but I wonder if that will assist people to make more loving choices?

233. Chan I love that by your trialling of the choice you made to cut out what you did from your diet you enabled the answer to present itself from your body. This I feel is key, that we can choose this or that way of eating according to whomever is promoting it as such, yet it is our body that is there with us letting us know full well whether it works for us or not.

234. The changes you were inspired to make since attending Universal Medicine presentations and sessions was deeply beautiful to read. When the loving principles they live by are truly embraced, the effect on people’s health, vitality and emotional stability, is as profound as it is gorgeous to witness.

235. Chan Ly, this is a great demonstration of how, even though a food it deemed to be ‘healthy, it may not actually suit every body and the only way we can really tell is by listening to how our body feels after eating. The difficulty is that we become so accustomed to feeling a certain way that we tend to think that is normal until symptoms arise. It’s often only when we give a food up that we witness how much we were abusing the body by eating it.

236. “I was under the illusion that I was very healthy because I had never experienced any illness or disease, until now.”- Yes, I am sure everyone can relate to this; it is often only when we are made to stop in our tracks by an illness, disease or accident that we then ponder on why this had occurred and are then more likely to change our lifestyle choices. But why wait?

237. “I was under the illusion that I was very healthy because I had never experienced any illness or disease, until now.” I can relate to that comment I had a real arrogance around never being sick and getting away with my diet and lifestyle choices. The reality is I was not getting away with anything I was just becoming more and more numb and dis-connected from the essence of who I truly am. This is something I didn’t realise because for one thing I had been pretty numb most of my life and number two the decline of less and less vitality was a slow one and went unnoticed. Since attending Universal Medicine events and learning to re-connect and feel what is truly going on in my body I now take more responsibility for healthy nurturing lifestyle choices. As a result I am learning to be consciously present in my body in all that I do and to listen to the messages my body is giving me.

     1. Marg it is incredible to look back on one’s journey and see how long things went unnoticed for and how much we must have overridden for that feeling to be felt. It is such a blessing to have the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom in our life and all that they have taught us. The awareness of how our body feels and the lesson’s that are learnt from this process are a truly magical way to live.

        1. That is so true Tracy our commitment and openness to our journey of true healing and the support we receive through Universal Medicine’s teachings of the Ancient Wisdom are certainly something to be appreciated and celebrated.

     2. I too can relate to feeling numb a lot of the time because of the food choices I made. Drinking alcohol also had that effect on me. Since experimenting with what foods feel good inside my body, I have notice a huge difference in my energy levels and my ability to stay steady with myself. Cutting out alcohol, gluten and dairy have happened gradually over a few years, and I can say I feel great for it.

        1. It works both ways really doesn’t it we gradually numbed the vitality we were born with and didn’t notice the true extent as it was happening. Now when I reflect on the state of my health although I had no major illness I had stiffness, aches and pains, headaches and a low level of vitality I didn’t realise how foggy my head was. The change happened for me as a result of the true healing and the support we receive through Universal Medicine’s teachings of the Ancient Wisdom. Learning to love myself going from self- loathing to self-love has made all the difference in my life from the way I eat, sleep, walk, my posture absolutely everything about me has changed. The majority of the time I feel vital full of life and love with no medical symptoms, aches and pains or headaches. I still have times where hurts come up and need to be felt and let go of and I hope that continues to happen to support the ever deepening stillness and connection I feel in my body.

     3. I’m sure many people feel this too, being ‘under the illusion that I was very healthy because I had never experienced any illness or disease…’. Healthy is a greatly misused term; it is not the absence of illness or disease, rather should be defined as harmony within the body and within all of our relationships too. Considering this, not many people are truly healthy from my observations.

     4. I echo that Margaret, having experienced the consequences of my own lifestyle choices on my health. As with yourself, the changes came about slowly and it took me quite a while to even realise what I was experiencing was a medically diagnosable and chronic condition. My arrogant spirit got quite a shock! We can be very disconnected from ourselves and our bodies – and think poor health is something that happens to someone else.

        1. Our honesty, connection with our true self and commitment to evolution will forever challenge the arrogance of the spirit.

     5. I agree Margaret and Chan. We seem very clever the way we devise various little tricks to not even be aware of how numb we have become. This makes it hard to notice what is really going on so the justification for our lifestyles goes unchecked for years and even lifetimes. Yet we are just going in circles and kidding ourselves that we are going somewhere. It makes those who are really tuned into and listening and heeding the messages from their bodies in the minority but what an inspiration to others around them!

        1. Yes Helen the spirit likes to see us chasing our tails going around in circles for lifetimes that’s for sure. I know that feeling well – I’m over the giddiness of that game. We can all be an inspiration to one another by re-claiming our authentic selves and expressing the love that we truly are.

238. “I now see food and lifestyle as my medicine and preventative for developing diabetes later in life. I am not taking any chances; I am taking responsibility for my choices.” Chan what you write here every health minister should read. You have the answer to a problem that is of epidemic proportions. And the answer is not expensive and or difficult. Making different choices, very simple. Yet what you have presented is not always so easy to do. By the teachings of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine we are able to connect deeper to ourselves; understanding and letting go of past hurts allowing us to just be and no longer need to numb and bury ourselves with food. This is the key – eating healthy is not new but being supported to do so is.

     1. Beautifully said, Laura B. Universal Medicine has helped me re-connect to my body and the truth of what it actually needs in order to thrive. This naturally leads to improved health and well being and as a lifestyle model can be life changing. As you say, every health minister needs to read about the simple and inexpensive ways that we can lessen the statistics of illness and disease.

     2. Laura this is a great point ‘– eating healthy is not new but being supported to do so is.’ Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine teachings have helped me heal hurts by always looking beyond the symptoms to what lies beneath the behaviour. The Esoteric modalities offer further support to feel what is solid and true and thereby make different choices.

     3. So well said Laura. “This is the key – eating healthy is not new but being supported to do so is.” The key is definitely in the support for when we start to stop eating gluten and dairy, we begin to feel all the things we have been wanting to not feel. Support in understanding this is needed for us to live with the loving discipline to let go of these foods completely.

     4. Great point, Laura B. The medicine Chan describes is very simple and if adopted en masse as public health policy, would see a complete turnaround in our health stats as well as ease the burden on the public health system. ‘This is the key – eating healthy is not new but being supported to do so is.’ Spot on.

        1. Very well said Victoria and Laura, thank you.

     5. I agree Laura – this is an incredibly powerful statement and I also agree that making those self loving choices and stepping up in responsibility is hard to do when there is deep lack of self worth and/or self loathing at the core… step in Universal Medicine which presents that we are already amazing, and how to connect to this. Then there begins a new level of awareness of what is underneath everything we have taken on and a new appreciation of who we actually are. This new found appreciation leaves us open to the possibility of making different choices. What this may mean for us becomes obvious very quickly and so leads to a new cycle of being open to feeling and letting go of what no longer serves us.

239. I spoke to an insurance underwriter and there is a Australian Diabetes Society flyer “life after gestational diabetes”, both of which say that about half of all women with gestational diabetes later in life develop type II diabetes. That is a very high risk, much higher than normal. Clearly it could be considered a strong warning. The good news is that half don’t develop diabetes and diabetes is considered a lifestyle disease so we can make changes in our life.

     1. Wow Christoph this percentage has gone up by double. When I had gestational diabetes it was 25% chances of developing type II diabetes. It’s a wake up call when we know harmful lifestyle choices could cause major illness and disease. The current rate of diabetes clearly shows that our choices can create.

240. Thinking that I was healthy and well, then the body telling me something different – is the one I have been going through right now. I am finding backtracking and feeling into the truth of my past choices very healing as it gives me so much deeper understanding about the relationships and situations back then and offers me an upgraded completion.

241. This is a stellar blog Chan. I think as a whole humanity, we underestimate the effects that certain foods can have on our bodies when we consume them and override the fact that they harm rather than support our health. What you’ve shared just goes to show how sensitive we can be to foods, and that even with a completely ‘healthy’ and substance-abuse free lifestyle, our health can deteriorate if we do not honour our body by eating the right foods. Thank you for sharing!

     1. Very true Susie “I think as a whole humanity, we underestimate the effects that certain foods can have on our bodies when we consume them and override the fact that they harm rather than support our health. ” The importance of honouring my body by eating the right food is clear as I become more and more sensitive to foods that do not serve my body. Food is an ongoing struggle for me as I have used it to check out for a very long time.

     2. Yes Susie this is so true. It does feel like we have our blinkers on as society yet the statistics reflect that our lifestyle choices are clearly not supporting our health and well-being, with illness and dis-ease on the rise. Chan’s blogs shows how empowering it is to take responsibility for our health and well-being by listening to our bodies and make loving choice that supports us to live in harmony with the true vitality that we all are born to live with.

        1. Empowering is a great word to use, Carola. When I put in the effort to look after myself, my day often completely changes – it makes such a difference to exercise, eat foods that feel right for me (and the right amount!), and pay attention to my body when carrying out day to day tasks. During and after a day when I’m doing the above, I really do feel empowered.

        2. Great comment Carola, imagine how many illness and disease could be prevented if more and more people chose to take responsibility for their own health.

242. Thank you for this open and informative article. I also felt deeply inspired through encountering Universal Medicine “I was inspired to start taking care of myself, to be gentle, loving and nurturing.” What is so fabulous about this is that, I have done it for myself, every choice made to care for myself builds on the last and now my foundation of health and well-being is strong and stable. I would not have it any other way now. Responsibility for ourselves is awesome. It is something that I have chosen and it feels amazing. Thank you Chan Ly and Universal Medicine.

243. Thank you Chan Ly. I like the way that you are very honest in the way that you repeatedly share with us that you were under the illusion that you were healthy previously. I remember being under the same illusion when I ticked all of the boxes for healthy eating, but my body was wasting away and became extraordinarily thin to the point that I experienced amenorrhea for over one year. It was only when I became very sick and admitted to myself that I could not deal with the exhaustion anymore that I woke up. With the beautiful support from Universal Medicine practitioners and esoteric healing modalities I begun to Love myself again. Miraculously my weight increased and my body shape changed.

     1. I can relate to what you share shevonsimon as I believed that I was fit and healthy as I had an image of what a picture of health was, and followed that. This picture did not come from within me or my body and as such dis-ease was always present as I experienced illness with regular bouts of tonsillitis/bronchitis/strep throat infections about 3 times a year. With the loving support of Universal Medicine I too have discovered that my relationship with myself and my body is the truest guide as to what I need to support my health and well-being which also includes seeking support from my doctor when needed. I have not experienced the above illness once in the past 6 years.

244. One of the beautiful things about Esoteric Healing is that it gives us a marker for how we can feel, how light and vital our body can actually feel! And from this we can be inspired to look at how we are living and the impact that our choices have on that vitality.

     1. What I also love is that there is no depth of that marker. It forever changes, grows and allows us to always go deeper.

245. Well said Chan, as for the majority, food is not seen for the true damage it can cause – ‘I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food. I had received clear signs from my body at a very young age that certain food was not supportive and was actually harming, but I was overriding those signs.’

     1. I agree Jenny. We have lost touch with the truth that our choice of food can be one of our greatest medicines.

246. It’s an important point you raise Chan about health prevention and responsibility making the choice to look at your life and prevent diabetes in whatever way further down the track. These are the types of choices we can make, and they don’t need to be hard as all we really need to do is honour our bodies.

247. Cutting out gluten and diary was easy, sugar was my addiction that would creep in. I thought I used it to not feel what was going on with people around me or inside me. But this morning I felt it is actually that I don’t want to feel my reaction to what is going on and to what I feel.

     1. That’s a great distinction you have made here Monika, for if we just felt things and accepted that as what is for now we would not react so much to what we are feeling, nor would we react to our reaction. It’s this reaction that often causes us to eat the foods that would numb us so we don’t feel.

248. “By listening to my body I am constantly readjusting to what it needs to feel lighter, energised and vital.” This way of living exposes all the diets.

     1. Absolutely. The diet fads out there do not take into account a person’s individual needs and what that body’s message is sending to that person. When this is exposed in years to come the diet industry will no longer exist.

249. “I felt I was doing really well by not abusing my body with drugs, alcohol or smoking. I had this idea that I was healthy and I was looking after myself because I wasn’t over doing it with junk food.” I hear people say that so often: ‘I am taking so good care of myself, because I don’t smoke or use drugs. We are so great at denying what we actually feel and allow to fool ourselves. We know, our body knows it all and constantly communicates that.

     1. Absolutely Monika, we do know all of us.

250. Dairy, gluten and sugary foods are sold to us as healthy, they are in fact a poison to the human body, as your own story clearly illustrates Chan, as well as countless other stories as well. And even though the advertising industries will continue to drive hard the false message and lie that ‘milk is good for your bones’ etc, more and more tend to know that dairy glugs us up with mucus and that gluten bloats us — and yet we continue to consume them with gusto. Why we do that is a key question, because what we are effectively doing is sabotaging our own health and well-being and attacking our own bodies.

     1. True Katerina, for me it was only until I test drove my body without gluten and diary that I discovered a system I had yet to give myself the pleasure of operating. In appreciating the amazing vehicles we have all come in with the choice becomes simple to the kind of fuel it asks to be run with.

     2. Absolutely Katerina that is the key question. Why do we continue to abuse ourselves with food, alcohol, drugs and cigarettes? As when we truly want to be honest and know why, we will then truly begin to heal as a humanity and work together to return our bodies to live harmoniously with the well-being and true vitality that we are designed to live.

251. “I now see food and lifestyle as my medicine and preventative for developing diabetes later in life. I am not taking any chances; I am taking responsibility for my choices.” This is a superb guideline to life and a medicine for all to have.

252. I had the same experience when taking out gluten and dairy from my diet, within a short time I could feel a huge difference, as you describe, I felt lighter, clearer more vital and started to be much more balanced in my daily state of being (not so moody anymore). There is a lot we can change in our life by simply being more aware about what we eat/what is really supportive for our bodies.

     1. Me too Esther, ‘I had the same experience when taking out gluten and dairy from my diet, within a short time I could feel a huge difference’, as a young woman I knew something was not right with my health, my body was displaying signs of disharmony, I consulted various doctors and tried various diets none of which helped, until I eliminated gluten, dairy and sugar, my body is now much more harmonious and I do not have the bloating, irritable bowel syndrome and foggy head that I used to.

253. As parents and family members we have a responsibility to break the cycle of sugar addiction by beginning with the very young. There is an abundance of information on the harmful effects of sugar and no reason why future generations should become enslaved by sugar in the way we were. We have to break the consciousness that says sugar is a ‘treat’ or ‘reward’ must feature in every celebratory occasion. Thankfully, in some households things are changing. A few people I know and not students of Universal Medicine have raised their children on sugar-free food, they rarely taste sugar and don’t miss it. Though in the minority, they may inspire others parents to do the same.

254. It is amazing that in the past I knew how food affected me by feeling bloated and heavy but didn’t realise I could say no to eating them, because they were considered healthy, listen to my body now and choosing to listen to it’s wisdom is a work in progress for me.

     1. Jill, those few words “…but didn’t realize I could say no to eating them…” took me back to many years ago when my little already bloating body was resisting white flour every day in the form of dumplings, pies, puddings etc., and milk from the cow made me feel sick, indeed most foods were scarce at that time, however, there was alway the guilt trip to make sure “…you eat every scrap on that plate …..think of the starving kids in India!!!!” Never quite understanding why my ‘thinking’ of the starving hoards in India would make my food go down any more easily – I was a ‘good’ girl and did what I was told. No blame – that was just the way it was – but now thank God we have “The Way It Is”.

255. Thank you for sharing so openly and honestly Chan Ly. Many people, myself included knew that some of our food and lifestyle choices were unhealthy but chose to continue anyway and ‘take the chances’ I learnt from Universal Medicine the energetic reasons behind my ill choices and had healing sessions to deal with my hurts. It was only then could I address my unhealthy choices and clear them.

     1. Yes Bernard there is so much behind our desire to eat certain foods. I would say my life was controlled by food for many years. Getting to the root cause of why we eat what we do is the step we need to take to start regaining control. I have chosen to deal with my issues by having healing sessions and they have helped me develop a solid foundation from which I can now make more loving food choices.

256. Chan this a very powerful reading. We do know deep down what it is that we need to change in our lives and how we medicate ourselves so that we keep ourselves small. Food is a big one for most people and we will make all of the excuses under the sun to not make those changes, until we start to feel that we are worth much more than we ever thought.

     1. True, Jennifer, each of us does know because our body communicates it non stop. And when we allow ourselves to connect back to our divine essence, we feel our greatness and the responsibility we have to take care of ourselves and reflect this to others.

     2. Wonderful expressed – we know, how we make ourselves small and it is unbelievable, how long it sometimes takes until we are willing to make better choices.

257. When I share with people that I don’t have gluten, dairy and sugar, if it comes up in conversation, they often say ‘isn’t that hard’ or ‘isn’t that boring’. My reply to both is ‘No, it’s neither hard nor boring’. What is boring is having constant bloating, bad skin, irritability, mood swings and so on due to eating foods with dairy, gluten and sugar. But even though I knew this to a degree many years before I came to Universal Medicine, it was only when I started to address what was causing me to keep wanting these foods that I was able to slowly (and sometimes quickly) let them go completely.

     1. Yes, Sandra sometimes it can be confronting for people when we are not eating the foods that they do know are not good for them. I know when I stopped drinking alcohol people would try to tempt me with a drink to make themselves feel better and they would tease me about my ‘restricted’ diet but they often would be amazed at what lovely looking lunches I had which were totally gluten, dairy and sugar free and they enjoyed sharing them too.

     2. Awesome response, Sandra, to these familiar remarks people make ‘that would be too hard for me or then I can’t eat out/what I want anymore’. When I worked with people with ADHD diagnosis I shared my diet with them and each of them responded similar: ‘I know this would support me to be more at ease with myself and more still inside, but no way I want to change my diet.’ The most important part of it all if you want to change is addressing why we keep wanting these foods and what they ‘bring’ us.

        1. Wow Monika amazing that they all had the awareness that changing diet would support them to be more at ease with themselves but were still so resistant to dietary changes. As you say understanding the investment that we have in these foods is key.

     3. You touch on an important point Sandra, that it is addressing what is causing people to want to keep eating foods they know aren’t working for them that allows the choice to be made to stop eating them, and not continue to override what the body is saying.

258. Is it possible we override what we feel in our body, and allow our mind, which can deceive us into thinking we are okay, because in truth we don’t want to change or have some ideal that we wish to hold onto? The body then has to speak louder until eventually we can not help but listen and even then we often only temporally change, until we are feeling better, before going back to our old ways. This is what I did in the past when I had severe candida and went off all sugar, gluten, and dairy for many months until I felt great. But once I felt completely clear of candida I slowly slipped back into having those foods in my diet and although I didn’t get candida again, I knew that those foods weren’t doing me any good. Since Universal Medicine and Serge Benhayon’s presentations, I am more willing to self-nurture and care for myself, it has been a natural progression to say no to those foods that don’t support me and by making these responsible changes I am able to reap the benefits by feeling more alive and vital.

259. I am so inspired by your story Chan, I was hanging on every word too! I often encounter people that believe sugar, gluten and dairy is good for them and I used to feel this way too. It is not until I removed these foods from my diet that I began to feel the full impact that they had on my health. Now I can feel how much these foods affect the general population as I have been exposed to a group of people that do not eat them through Universal Medicine. This makes the physical differences between those who eat gluten, dairy and sugar and those that do not very obvious. I don’t need to conduct a science experiment to see that living free of harming foods results in a huge increase in vitality, sparkly and clear eyes, bodies that feel light and supported at their true weight and skin that glows.

     1. I agree Leonne, Sugar, Dairy, Gluten, Coffee, and alcohol is not natural for our bodies and they struggle to cope and process these things that are commonly consumed.

     2. Absolutely great and right Leonne, we don’t need experiments to prove that our bodies enjoy not digesting diary, sugar and gluten (including yeast etc.). It has directly responded in my body to stop eating diary, sugar and gluten. It has brought an enourmous clarity in my way of thinking, and my whole belly, somach and head felt different. I was left feeling more connected to my feelings and automatically felt more in my body (responses to certain situations, communication with others, choices of going to bed, time to eat etc. ). I would suggest to everyone to be free from eating gluten, diary and sugar – even if it is just for a day! It feels so much better.

     3. Actually it a science experiment Leonne – a true one, conducted in the greatest laboratory, life!
        Nothing more to be said or proven. No double blinded trial can throw doubt upon what people feel.

260. Great blog Chan. You know I cannot recall ever reading or hearing anyone, ever, exalt the virtues of eating gluten. Most say that they are addicted. . .And as for dairy all the health claiming attributes usually come directly from the dairy industry. Sugar is known to be addictive. So it seems that we are basically a society of addicts enslaved to big business. Although we cannot lay the blame on big business, as every business is based on supply and demand. Definitely time to reconsider our addictions and what they are doing to us, for even after we eliminate the obvious culprits like sugar, gluten and dairy, there are even more addictions lurking, needing to be addressed.

     1. Great comment kathleenbaldwin. Ditching the obvious culprits is great and a very needed step, a first step nonetheless. I think we all need to be asking ourselves why we want to be eating, or doing things that we know deep down is abusing ourselves, and be very honest with ourselves and with each other.

        1. When I ask myself this question Suzanne the answer always works itself back to comfort.

261. Chan Ly, your article is an important one for medicine and for our future. We know from statistics and predictions that the diagnosis of diabetes in its various forms is going through the roof and growing rapidly. Your article goes a long way to offering people with diabetes or pre-diabetes a choice, one which they can take into their own hands and experiment with themselves, with the support of their GPs, specialists and practitioners, to come back to true vitality and freedom in their lives.

     1. It’s true Jeanette. Working in a hospital, seeing patients with diabetes is almost every second or third person. Most people think that it’s just a ‘sugar problem’ but really it is so much more and has such devastating effects on the whole body – basically it rots the body. It’s incredible to think that we give up on our own health and wellbeing all for food.

        1. Your comment really hit a chord with me Jennifer as it highlighted the fact that daily so many choose food over health and wellbeing. Perhaps looking a little deeper into our relationship not only with food but with ourselves we may begin to see our value. For under every numbing choice we make around food is an issue with our own sense of self-worth and value.

        2. and our food choices and why we make them are a constant. There is no perfect or ideal diet to reach. I really appreciate you comment “For under every numbing choice we make around food is an issue with our own sense of self-worth and value” for this can be the case no matter the diet.

        3. Yes Jennifer, it is amazing we give up on our health and well being for food. It really is atrocious, but it is difficult to capture how insidiously we have been lead to believe that gluten and dairy products are healthy. Many people can not let go of things like the food pyramid and advertising that promotes these foods. That is, until we are ready to feel the truth that our bodies are showing us.

        4. Food has become so much more than nourishment – it’s our nanny, our comforter, our despair and sadness in action, the cushioning of our hurts, a reward or relief and so much more – anything but the true nourishment it is intended to be.

        5. ‘Most people think that it’s just a ‘sugar problem’ but really it is so much more and has such devastating effects on the whole body – basically it rots the body.’ Wow Jennifer when you put it that way it really made me sit up and take notice and it feels so true with the rising amputations etc because of diabetes. Sugar should come with a health warning like cigarettes because for an ever increasingly large part of the population it is life-threatening.

        6. Very true Helen and I agree. We have made long inroads with smoking but sugar and alcohol (which is sugar) have a long way to go before we really understand and then accept of the harms of this ‘not so sweet stuff’

     2. Thank you Jeanette for your great and sobering comment. I have also read in National Health Statistics in England and Australia that our health systems will be bankrupted by the medical costs of diabetes alone. Chan’s blog is so real and such a wake up call for us all to take back the responsibility for our own health and well-being. Chan turned her health around by simple life style choices, with the support of traditional medicine and true complementary medicine – in that she had true holistic health care.

     3. It is so important that we look at the whole diet in diabetes, not just the additional sugars, but the gluten, dairy, grains…the whole of it. Otherwise we are making it about parts, and wholeness can never be restored from parts.

        1. Great point Rachel, and with any illness it is about being open to what is going on. I know with food I recognised that I was intolerant of gluten and dairy, and yet gluten free and soya products were just as bad. So it was about far more than the label gluten and dairy free, it was a larger discernment of how I felt with everything I ate.

        2. I agree Rachel Mascord, we have to consider the whole when we look at diabetes or any other disease.

        3. And this goes to the heart of how we treat ourselves in every aspect of life.

     4. So true Jeanette Macdonald, this article is of great value, concerning self healing or management of illness and disease created through lifestyle choices, alongside the support of conventional health professionals. These stories of big changes, miracles, transformation in peoples lives are so vital to shift the focus from cure to responsibility and self empowerment.

     5. I agree too Jeanette, this blog is an important one for medical research. Science has proven (I think) that there is a relationship between diet and diabetes and this is great, but the message coming through is that everything is okay in moderation. This is just not true and it will be people’s personal lived experiences with diets that proves this. You can’t just have a little bit of arsenic and be okay with that. Poison is poison. Taking a food out of one’s diet because it is abusive not to is true freedom.

     6. Thank you Jeanette. We are definitely capable of turning our health around by listen to our body, make loving choices with regards to food/beverage, exercise, work, etc.to truly understand what is supportive and what is not. When we take responsibility for our own health this feels deeply empowering.

     7. Very important, what you highlight here. To take responsibility for our choices, is one of the most important ingredients for healing, no matter which disease we are facing.

262. I spent much of my life on the diet which included dairy (lots of it), wheat, gluten, sugar, alcohol, caffeine etc. I was sick much of the time, with chronic pain, heaviness, and the beginnings of a painful arthritis in my 40’s, lacking in vitality, exhausted and to be really honest, quite depressed. I felt old before my time. These foods dropped away over a period of years and I haven’t had them for about 10 or more years.
     I dont miss them one little bit and feel and look more healthy and so much younger now that I am at 63. Dropping those foods bit by bit, enabled me to feel clearly what supports me and my body and what does not. No more pain, heaviness, exhaustion, or depression. Life is a joy and I am no longer a prisoner of my choices.

     1. Jeanette, knowing you now it’s amazing to consider that in years past you were sick with chronic pain and lacking the vitality you have now. It just goes to show how much harm dairy, gluten, alcohol, sugar and coffee do, as simply eliminating these from our diet and addressing the underlying exhaustion that sees us craving those foods in the first place, we reveal all the brightness and vitality we naturally are. So simple and yet so powerful when we make a choice to say a big YES to us.

        1. Love this Katerina, ‘as simply eliminating these from our diet and addressing the underlying exhaustion that sees us craving those foods in the first place, we reveal all the brightness and vitality we naturally are. So simple and yet so powerful when we make a choice to say a big YES to us.’ It just makes sense and shows how powerful it is to begin to heal the underlying issues that stop the true you from being felt, seen and lived.

        2. Jeanette this is quite amazing. Given that you no longer have any of those symptoms you have described, pain, exhaustion, depression, pretty significant things, that most people think is a normal part of ageing. This has literally changed the course in how you are ageing. In fact, I can say the same for me too and I wouldn’t change how I feel for the world.

        3. It is amazing how we often crave the very foods that are poisoning us. I got to see this very clearly for myself. It wasn’t until I started to look at WHY I had the desire for them in the first place that things started to change. Now if I develop even a tiny craving for something, say sugar, I realise it is an opportunity, rather than a potential fall, to look at what I am not wanting to see or feel that may be going on in my life. Feeling what is going on in the body and trusting your knowing around that makes life so simple. I truly appreciate this.

     2. It’s a pretty cool thing to have experienced Jeanette! It’s also a pretty cool thing to know that such a simple concept can have such far reaching consequences for a person’s life. AMAZING! I honestly can’t remember too much about how I felt before I gave up gluten, dairy and sugar as I did it over 10 years ago as it is long forgotten now – probably dulled and exhausted. I do remember however the first year I let go of them I did not get one cold despite having the hardest year at work I had ever had, which inspired a colleague to give it a go!

     3. This is incredible Jeanette. I have found certain food can make me feel heavy therefore leads to feeling depressed. Although I have never had depression but I could feel my choices previously could have lead me to it. Overloading our body with food or stress and many other things, creating imbalance in our body can cause all sort of problems, physically and mentally. Everything we choose, how we live definitely affects our well being.

     4. That sounds like a wonderful journey you’ve taken Jeanette. To me you are living proof that there is more to diets and food than just losing weight or getting fitter. Changing diet and how and why we eat affects everything including our clarity, our awareness, how much joy we feel and our ability to make clearer more supportive choices.

263. It is amazing how our body knows it all but we still override the messages! The messages about how to avoid diabetes are very clear but our society does not want to hear them even if there is an epidemic! What you have shared , Chan, is living research!

     1. Well said Anne and we spend so much money and invest so many resources is finding a ‘cure’ or continuing to ‘manage our symptoms’, which talks nothing about the responsibility in how we live. This is why Chan’s ‘living research’ is much more valuable that would ordinarily be given credit for.

        1. Anne and Jennifer what you say sadly makes sense, if the “cure” to many lifestyle related illnesses is so simple and already discovered yet we choose not to listen it would seem that we do in fact not want the answer. So the question is why do we prefer illness and dis-ease over vitality and joy? Is there more we are not wanting to look at – if so is it not important to find out what that is, for it would seem without dealing with that the rise in illness and disease will only continue to escalate.

        2. I was talking about this with someone this morning. If we acknowledge that our choices lead to our poor health then really we have to take responsibility for all of of our choices. This is not easy when we want to look everywhere else, rather than our own choices.

     2. I agree “living research” is a great description. There is much to share concerning the transformations that have occurred in peoples lives through making a choice to honour what the body shares. Universal Medicine presentations offer wonderful suggestions, inspiration and tools concerning self-care and self-nurturing. It is beautifully simple, learn to honour what the body shares and naturally health and well-being return.

        1. This is what I have learnt, to listen and honour my body. Everything Universal Medicine presents has inspired me to go deeper in connecting with myself, my body, with people, nature and God.

     3. It is true Anne the signs are there before any illness takes hold within the body, but it seems we are masters at overriding the messages our bodies are giving us. Learning to listen to the signs and messages are proving to be invaluable to me as I pay more attention.

     4. I agree Anne, Chan’s sharing is “living research”. Even though what Chan shared though is widely known, the choice to over ride what is felt clearly in the body is constantly made. That is until we introduce self love and self care. With out this there is no support to make the changes our bodies are calling for.

     5. Science still sees experimental proof as being more correct or of more value than people personal experience or ‘living research’, quite sadly and to it’s detriment. I can see though that as more people begin to see their bodies as being fully capable of speaking up and we listen tho that, less weight will be given to scientific research.

        EM for AM

264. It’s interesting how willing we are to override the signals our bodies are telling us until it gets to a point that we have to stop and listen. I knew how heavy eating pasta made me feel and how tired I would be after eating a baguette at lunch time, yet it seemed impossible to switch to something lighter that would feel less heavy in my body. It was not until I was supported to make these changes with chakra puncture sessions that I was able to let go of gluten and it has happened without any desire to go back to the way I used to eat.

265. I lived in the same way as you, believing that I was eating a healthy diet with gluten and dairy. It was not until I gave up gluten and dairy that I was able to feel the effects on my body and how much more I needed to change about the way I was eating.

     1. For me I don’t remember thinking that I was healthy but at the same time I didn’t think I was unhealthy as I never got sick. It was not till I heard the side effects of gluten and diary that two and two came together to make four. I realized all the symptoms I had felt all my life suddenly made sense. When I gave up gluten and diary as an experiment I was amazed at how I felt and then realized I had not been healthy. Today I live vitality and joy, today this is my definition of true health and well-being.

     2. Same here fionacochran01. I thought I was such a healthy eater because I ate minimal junk food. I remember being told that junk food in moderation was good for you! I was pretty sure that wasn’t right…but was happy to believe it to justify the times I did eat it. How we love to trick ourselves.

266. “I was under the illusion that I was very healthy because I had never experienced any illness or disease, until now.” How many people (including myself in this) have you watched or have you seen slide down into a decline of less and less vitality to then end up with the physical symptoms – my mother would look at the colour of my eyes – which when clear are a bright blue – and say “your eyes are grey, you are going to get sick” – I would say at the time there were no other symptoms, but she was always right and it has a become one of the markers for me of my vitality (among many other things).

     1. Yes, Nicole it is by nature – we know what is right and when we are not taking care of our body and when it is sick. It is more that if we neglect the signs that our body is sending to us – that makes us look like there is nothing wrong – while in fact it is telling us something. How important it is and part of our daily medicine to listen to our body. So we know how to respond back to it and make sure we take care of it – not by mind but by our body speaking.

     2. What you say here really resonated with me, I now reflect that I was on that trajectory ” How many people (including myself in this) have you watched or have you seen slide down into a decline of less and less vitality to then end up with the physical symptoms – ” It is not inevitable that we will become unhealthy and over weight as we get older, it is a choice, I now know this from my own experience. 10 years ago I began to make changes that have reversed the path I was following, I am more healthy now then I was then, without a doubt. It is significant that we often see and sense a ‘slide’ towards ill health and age as if it was an inevitable decline, time for this myth to be broken

        1. Great point davidsonsamantha, ill heath does not have to be a side effect of ageing as you so clearly state it is always a choice, one that ultimately we are responsible for.

        2. An important point made here, as this myth does indeed need to be broken and aired out, as not being the way forward. Bring true attention to our daily choices and our bodies is a very important part of our own self-development and our own evolution and deep down we know this but either do not trust it or do not want to take the natural responsibility this way of living holds. It is however a beautiful way to live and in this we are able to really understand ourselves and others equally.

        3. I too have found a similar thing, I am more healthy now than I was. I saw my GP yesterday and she said “keep doing what you are doing”. As I reflect on what this means it will change the course of our relationship too. Equal partners in health.

        4. This is gorgeous Jennifer, “Equal partners in health” this is something that is so relevant to our health care, to go to the GP and participate in our own health and be equally responsible in the relationship with the doctor.

        5. It is amazing to see in the Universal Medicine body how many students are living proof of how to break the myth of the inevitable decline. I would agree with you – my health and vitality is better than it was 10 years ago.

     3. I was under the illusion I was healthy too, because it seemed I had a body that never got over weight and I had the most amazingly clear skin – my body was also always able to do what I asked of it and never really seemed to break down, apart from the odd cold. However I never really clocked that I got really tired or that I had hardened to push through. I had also dismissed sinus issues, quite severe nervous tension in my shoulders and constipation as normal. I know for a fact that if I had not met Serge Benhayon when I did in my 30s my body would be showing signs of illness and I would be living with a number of conditions.

     4. How wonderful your mother could connect to what your body was sharing.

     5. Yes, the more we listen to our body, the more we know exactly what is going on. The body is the marker of truth, no confirmation from the outside is needed any more.

     6. It is so interesting that we can tell a lot about our choices and health by looking at our eyes.

267. A very quick way to silence our body is by putting something in our mouths – anything to dull and numb the messages that are booming out loud and clear 24/7.

     1. Sometimes to be able to silence the body takes a huge amount of food! Perhaps even over a long period of time… any wonder obesity is a major issue in many countries.

        1. Great point Heather and a huge amount of energy goes into eating all that energy!

        2. Agreed Heather and then the extra question why do we work so hard, I should I say eat so much, in order to numb the body. What is it we do not want to feel and worse we are willing to harm ourselves to do so. This is the secret to why diets do not work, till we deal with the underlying issue the need to numb will always be there and if it is not food we use to numb it will be some other substance or behaviour.

        3. I am wondering if the body can be silenced at all, try as we might?

        4. Super true Heather and the world is showing us this with the current ‘diabesity’ epidemic where increased obesity is rampant and with it diabetes. We have the capacity to more clearly feel everything in our bodies now, so of course in order not to feel that, as you and Lee note, you have to eat a lot of food, and continue to eat it. It just shows how much we do know and how much we feel when we have to go to that extreme in order not to feel.

        5. Great point Michelle819 and Heather, it’s pretty difficult to silence the body because the harder we try the louder the messages our bodies gives us.

     2. Whatever your weight I think we all know how to do this one masterfully Lee.

        1. Agree Dean. I sure know this one well!

     3. This is very true and something we learn to do from very young.

     4. Well said Lee. If we want to shut our bodies up, we simply need to stuff something into our mouths. Literally….

        1. Katerina can I quote you this is hysterical as it is equally true.

        2. Yes…so well said! If we want to shut our bodies up, we simply need to stuff something into our mouths! The abusive relationship we have with food is enormous. Even when we choose to eat healthily the penchant to have that extra amount to dull emotion is the same as binging on chocolate.

        3. I agree Rachel. I am finding even when I have refined my diet to the point where I am only eating protein, salads and green vegetables there is still a tendency to override what I know my body needs and put in an extra mouthful or two, or to eat too many nuts. After which I bloat and feel a little numb. As with all things it is not so much about what we do as to the quality in which we do it, so if I am eating in presence and connection, the desire to abuse my body is not there.

        4. The energy that accompanies such an action is what truly does the damage – this is the often overlooked part of the message – the body starts to put on weight but is it just food or is it the energy that one swallows that starts to layer on the weight?

     5. Yes Lee, comfort food is not only a type of food used to numb, usually known as ice-cream, chocolate etc , but any food can become a ‘comfort’ depending on how we use/eat it.

        1. That’s true, Jenny James, “any food can become a ‘comfort’” especially if we over-eat, or eat when we are not really hungry but to fill an emotional need.

        2. That’s right Jenny. Anything that we use to numb or avoid our feelings be it food, beverage, entertainment, sport etc. can take us further away from who we are. Everything we choose matters and how we choose to express matters, so therefore what energy we choose to prepare our food and eat always matters.

     6. Yes Lee. It works very effectively, but at a very high price, paid slowly over a long time…with interest.

     7. So true Lee Green, I spent years eating food that I now reflect did not support me, it did in the short term stop me feeling the ache, the restlessness, the unease that how I was living was not it…My relationship with food is changing and it has brought a sense of clarity that I had no idea would occur, I now choose much of the time, to eat food that maintains my awareness not dampens it. I enjoy being aware, present and observant, this is the truer me and this is ‘it,’ the life that had been calling me under all that unease and ache. My body was telling me something and I have begun to listen.

        1. I can relate to what you are sharing Samantha but no matter how much I ate, or what I ate, the tension never really left hence the constant face stuffing – add in the addiction to sugar and it was pretty much an everyday occurrence to numb and dull! Ultimately it made much more sense to be honest about the tension and to really allow myself to feel it.. Whilst allowing it the tension might feel raw for a moment, but what is offered at the same time is a clarity and a truth that can cut through the emotion allowing space for the revelation to come through about why the choices around the face stuffing were made! With this clarity comes understanding and allowing which allows you to let go of what you have been holding on to. I also have to acknowledge that I still feel tension around some of my choices, and whilst so much lovelessness abounds generally I know I will continue to feel it – so accepting it is there, learning how to work with it and to handle it, making responsible choices in response makes sense as a life long skill.

        2. What you expand on here is beautiful, part of accepting who we are and learning to feel what were there is to feel, is accepting that there will be a tension. The ‘unease’ I felt was something my body was telling me, the tension is part of life, and something to observe and ponder, it assists us to feel clarity, what is true for us and what is not true for us.

        3. And what a break through it is Samantha, quite literally! It is amazing to realise just how fogged up we get with gluten and dairy, I had no idea until I stopped eating these two food substances just how dull and soggy I had become. I am constantly amazed by my vitality and willingness to get on with life since cutting these foods out. It was certainly the best advice I ever had and cannot recommend it enough.

        4. Great to read about your commitment to building a loving and healthy relationship with food Davidsonsamantha. It is inspiring, Thank you!

        5. Great to read this Samantha and yes how much better is it living with clarity and awareness over dullness and shutdownness.

     8. So very true Lee and we seem to be so good at it! I have been noticing how there is a attraction towards certain types of food at certain moments, the exact food that can dull my experience and making sure I do not feel reflections my body is providing about my choices.

        1. It is amazing to read you pay this much attention and awareness to food Golnaz. Food is what fuels us and nurtures our body so by listening to our body is a very natural and sensible thing to do.

     9. So true. And the one I am discovering at the moment is to go into motion. I have been having pain in my shoulder and when I am still I feel the intensity of it, but if I move around, I get distracted and the pain is felt far less.

        1. That’s a great point Fumiyo. Food is just one way we can distract and take away something we don’t want to deal with or feel. Social media is another one that could almost be rivaling food due to its 24/7 accessibility. Social media, however is not something that is ‘consumed’ in the same way that food is, but none the less it is still ‘consumed’ and has the same affect of dulling our body and shutting down our awareness if it is used for this purpose.

        2. Yes, distraction is the away to go whatever that might be (food, movement, entertainment, sleep.. ) if we do not want to feel what is really going on.

        3. Great comments. I too started to see that we have many forms and ways to numb ourselves. The list is massive and they seem to be more readily available and accessible to all of us currently, enticing us from every angle.

        4. Brilliant Fumiyo why is it that we do not want to feel the result of all of those ‘harmful movements’ – if we stopped and truly connected we could let it go and then move more lovingly – this avoidance we live by is only adding to the harm we continue to do to ourselves.

     10. Great point Lee, the way we are with food reflects how willing we are to be honest and open with ourselves. Taking the time to stop and feel how we are eating, feels like a great place to start reconnecting with our body.

         1. Agreed Jade and a marker for how we are living – rushed and ‘unplanned’ meals standing up over the kitchen sink – show me that I am racy, not connected and certainly not inspirational.

     11. True and we learn this often from young. When you fall as a child you get a ‘sweet’ put on it to take away the pain.

     12. Yes Lee, the messages from our body are constant, and sometimes not very pleasant to feel. No wonder food is used as it is to numb and dull our bodies. As a society we need to learn that numbing something does not stop it. Honestly feeling it and understanding it does.

         1. So true Leigh. By being honest and willing to understand what is going on is a great step to start healing our body.

     13. Yes, I had never thought of it like that – it’s like gagging ourselves, isn’t it?

     14. That is huge, what you are expressing and so easy to understand and yet, sometimes I still overeat. It is an unfolding way for me.

     15. I have found Lee that the silence only lasts a very short period especially with food and mostly while I am eating. But give my body 10-20 mins, the signs always appear for me to feel the consequences of my food choices for as long as I can remember. I ignore these signs by repeating the same unloving choices in the past. I am so thankful now that I have been inspired by so many amazing people at Universal Medicine and learning to listen and honour my body. As it is extremely sacred and divine.

         1. Great point Chan Ly – the cover up is not really a cover up at all. Think about chocolate in the mouth for a few seconds we get that taste sensation and then it is gone – we repeat until the bar is consumed. Do we stop then satiated or do we feel the need to further consume – wish we hadn’t eaten it so quick, wish I had more, saved some… Etc etc. The point is underneath the constant consumption or choices to silence the body it cannot be truly silenced – for its soul purpose (pun intended) is to support us to come back to the fullness of who we are which means feeling everything and making choices that support us back constantly.

         2. Me to Chan,
            Another thing that I am finding is that when I eat to cover something up or to numb myself, is that I then want to eat more of the type of food that I know affects me. I am becoming quite humbled in having this experience, as I am becoming acutely aware as to how and why people become addicted to substances.

268. I learned to eat cheese and drink milk, I had never liked it and cannot recall I was forced to, but when I grew older I just took it and finally I liked cheese very much and I had milk in my coffee, overriding the body symptoms of problems with my digestion and I have put up with this for many years.

     1. I was the same Annelies, I remember the very first time I tasted milk it was revolting. I couldn’t drink it straight so I was shown to add boiling water and sugar to disguise the horrible smell and taste. It’s funny reflecting back that every part of my body was screaming ‘No do not drink this’ yet I found ways to ignore and override these messages. This was the beginning of my journey into accepting food as a deep comfort and excuse to abuse my body from the age of about 7-8.

269. ‘I felt it in my body every time I ate food that wasn’t supportive, but I would override it because it was advertised as being healthy and I became addicted.’ How we try to fool ourselves and believe what others are telling what is healthy or not when our body is loud and clear and is communicating with us all of the time. Before I stopped with eating gluten I had the feeling it would not be possible to live without bread, it is so comfortable and easy to make your breakfast and lunch, not much time needed but my body was always telling me how heavy it was. Now taking more time for preparing my lunch is actually very simple and self loving as is eating it.

     1. Isn’t it crazy how our thoughts make things seem impossible yet when we let go, choose to have a go and try new things that are more loving and supportive it turns out to be the easier way. All that fuss in my head would weigh me down, it feels like my mind is having a battle with my body. But when I surrender to what is truly needed there is no battle, just simplicity and love.

     2. I am with you on that Annelies. I take the time now to prepare all my meals which are made from scratch, so I know exactly what I am eating… Changing and refining my diet has seen my health soar as I reap the benefits of more vitality, clarity and rising early. Processed food which is loaded with salt and sugar and goodness knows what else no longer passes my lips. And I found that when I started to nourish my body with healthier food choices, all areas of my life were nourished too!

270. It is interesting to note how we can so firmly hold this belief that we are healthy even in the face of our bodies saying otherwise. Giving up Gluten and dairy was a process and now I feel lighter without them there are other crutches in life I am aware of now that are no different to foods, such as distracting myself with thoughts or indulging in reactions to sensations in my body. But just as there was a willingness to give up certain foods and time to find my way through life without them the same can be applied to these new (or simply unearthed/previously buried) numbing behaviours.

     1. Thank you Leigh. I have found certain food affects my behavior, so by cutting out harmful foods, I essentially cut out some harmful behaviours too. To me everything is connected and linked.

     2. Awesome sharing Rebecca, illness is our body’s way of telling us to stop, slow down and take care of it.

     3. I have found the same Rebecca, That arrogance of ‘There’s nothing wrong with me’ ‘I can carry on’ is only building us up for a huge crash when the body exposes the truth about our choices via illness and disease. Slowly I am starting to see that if I go with that arrogance it makes matters worse when it all crashes down so going to the situation myself supports me in coming around listening to the body quicker and easier. For example thinking that I didn’t have a certain issue when in a conversation – the fact that I jumped instantly to thoughts of ‘I don’t have that problem!’ got me curious, such a quick defence, what was underneath it?

271. I have always considered myself to be healthy, yet what I have come to appreciate over the years of attending Universal Medicine presentations is that there is always a deeper level of self care and nurturing that we can go to which supports our body to live with even more ease and vitality. In a society where we are taught to settle for better than, I am eternally grateful for being shown there is more.

     1. Beautiful Jenny. I am appreciating this and extremely grateful too.

272. Like you and other commenters here, I too have over time dropped gluten, dairy, caffeine and alcohol from my diet and in doing so, have experienced a vast improvement in my health and well being.

     1. This is great Michelle. Together we will inspire others to make loving choices too.

273. Chan what you share is hugely important. We put such pressure on our bodies to perform for us and we take umbrage when they dare to show us that what we think is healthy is not truly. Our bodies don’t lie and they keep showing us whether how we live is supportive or not, and yet we often ignore them. I too have used food to medicate and still can, it’s a comfort and one I can reach for when I’m hurt or don’t want to feel something, yet I know deep down it doesn’t work and I’m thrashing the one thing that shows me the truth of how I am. I’m learning to understand this more and to be less hard on myself with it, to observe my body as the amazing feedback mechanism it is and to see that I then have a choice to continue what I do or to change. It’s amazing and can at times challenge me too as I feel those things I don’t want to let go of, the ideas I want to cling too, when I know deep down they’re not me and they’re not supportive. It’s a journey I’ll be on for the rest of my life, as you say it’s a constant refinement and the more I embrace it the more I can naturally be the joy I am, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

274. This is Gorgeous Chan Ly and confirms everything I experienced with cutting out gluten, sugar, caffeine and dairy. Over the years I am experiencing that my diet needs constantly refinement. I’m right in the middle of letting go all the very strict rules I had to obey by in regards to food. That there’s no obligation to eat something or not eat something. But there’s always an effect! And it is whether I feel that effect supports me or not. But without trying something different, no one knows why to choose so. What if the Truth is that without choosing food that supports the body, our body can’t receive the Grace that we are from. So we’re always missing out on something we’re so missing. And so much more, such as delicateness, true joy, tenderness, etc. Are we really that hard as Human Beings or are we just to let go the layers of hardness and protectiveness to feel that we are so much more. It might be worth exploring…

     1. I love this Floris van der Schot – there are no rules about what one should eat, only listening to what our amazing, wise, personal science laboratory (our body) as to what works best for it.

        1. I’m smiling Stephanie on the words ‘Personal Science Laboratory’. Isn’t that beautiful, playful and making you (me) curious to deeper get to know my own laboratory and those of every one else. I sense an endless exploration and a lot of fun! It just feels very smooth, humble, cheeky, purposeful, etc. I can ‘see’ smoke coming out of the chimneys:).

275. We can lead what we feel are healthy lives yet get sick and if we do we have a choice to either go poor me and curse our luck, or we can see that it is a blessing that our bodies are acting with such sensitivity and makes the changes that are being clearly called for. Chan Ly shares a very powerful story that shows in her illness there was a lesson to be learnt that she has embraced and is reaping the benefits of doing so. Feeling awake at 3 or 4am in the morning is something many people are horrified by, as I would have once been too, yet perhaps this is really our normal, and that better health outcomes lie in the simple choices that mean we wake early, vital, refreshed and ready for each day.

276. Self-love brings to the world the magic of eternal youth! Eternal youth is the vitality we live with and the capacity to enjoy every second of our life in a body that is truly vital, healthy and expressing from our divinity. The joy to live in a body of this quality is heaven on earth and no material wealth or physical looks can come even close to the feeling of this absoluteness.

277. Thank you for sharing this Chan Ly. It is a great example of how our culture and lifestyle and the food choices within that culture and lifestyle, can and do, impact our health significantly and by becoming more aware of these factors we can choose to keep ourselves free of such debilitating diseases such as diabetes.

278. I can very much relate to what you share Chan Ly. I always thought I was living healthy by balancing my alcohol and drug abuse with healthy food and time taking care of myself. Although I did not develop any illness or disease my body was clearly telling me that I was not living in a healthy way as my level of exhaustion was through the roof, but only through Universal Medicine I became aware of this fact as being exhausted was so normal that I did not have the awareness to question it. Today I have a level of vitality that I never had, not even in my twenties and I feel more vital with every year I advance in age and this is absolutely miraculous in a world where vitality stops getting into our forties and a mere existence is accepted for the remaining half of our lives.

     1. It is similar for me too Rachel, I have much more vitality now than I did twenty years ago due to the lifestyle and food choices I now make.

     2. I battled blood sugar problems for 30 years, with seemingly no ability to have consistent energy no matter what I tried. Since changing to gluten and dairy free, I have never had a problem.

279. Although I didn’t abuse my body with drugs or smoking, I did abuse it with alcohol (rarely to excess but abuse none the less) and I definitely abused it with other beverages (especially coffee) and food. The interesting thing is that at the time I was not prepared to accept many of these choices as abusive and in many cases defended my right to have them (!) whether this was out of reward or to fit in etc. It was only when introduced to the teachings of Universal Medicine that I was able to actually be honest about the signals my body had been giving me all this time and to take responsibility for these choices and being prepared to take care of my body and honour what it was telling me. The amazing thing about this is that not only have my health and well-being improved but so have all areas of my life including my relationship, work, finances etc. To me this is such a timely reminder of the wisdom of the body and what is already available to us in terms of caring for it as long as we are prepared to listen!

280. ‘… I was actually abusing my body with food.’ And so many of us are. Food abuse surely must be our biggest preventable health issue by far.

281. How amazing your doctor knew the answer, just like that. In my experience many medicos discount diet yet how amazing that on the practical level it contained the answer to your woes.

282. “I saw this in people I met at Universal Medicine and I became extremely inspired.” I remember the first Universal Medicine event I attended and I definitely noticed how there was something different about the people there. At first it wasn’t obvious but then I started to realise that people looked more awake, alive, vital, and they walked with a gentle confidence that I hadn’t really seen before. It was very confronting for me at first as it showed where I was at with my body, but it was such an inspiration for me to start making loving choices so that I could return to this truer way of being.

     1. Yes Eleanor Cooper, I remember the same. I could see people looked different and in retrospect I could see the light emanating from them, but I didn’t really know what this was at the time.

     2. Further to this comment, I recently watched a promotional video for a Bed and Breakfast, showcasing the facilities there, the ‘actors’ were students of Universal Medicine, of all ages and what was noticeable was how healthy, vital and light everyone looked in stark contrast to most of the population. And these people were not picked because of their looks, just a random sample of the student population who have adopted the Way of the Livingness and that includes eating to support your body.

283. It’s funny how we can go through life thinking that we are healthy because we have no serious illnesses or rarely need to visit the doctor. But when we discover what true vitality can be, we can feel how our health has been impeded by the way we have been living.

     1. ‘But when we discover what true vitality can be, we can feel how our health has been impeded by the way we have been living.’ I agree with what you have said here Eleanor and that our daily choices about how we are living, eating and drinking directly affect our health.

     2. Yes, it’s not until we feel the difference of how we could be living that we appreciate the impact of all our ill choices.

284. Like you Chan Ly I considered myself to be healthy and I was doing this by comparing myself with other people who were less well – and how ridiculous is that? I am learning to know my own body more and to listen to what it is telling me and this has been a very revealing and intimate relationship that is developing a greater understanding of what truly supports. Your blog will support us all to find our own diet that allows us to evolve and embrace a richer life – and as you say to ‘feel lighter, more connected, gentle and tender. I was inspired to start taking care of myself, to be gentle, loving and nurturing. I started to learn about true health and vitality’.

285. Hi Chan, the body is very honest in its response to what it is subjected to. Observing people around me I can see the powerful part food plays in rewarding and comforting many and I am wondering as I respond to your blog how those that are addicted to sugar, gluten, dairy, caffeine interpret their diet in order to satisfy the reasoning, and justify their choices. As you acknowledge in your own life, denial and numbing often go unchallenged and unacknowledged. The body is perfect in its design, constantly reflecting what is possible and when held in Love and listened to will respond in whole health if given the opportunity. As you uncovered – ‘I had been using food for comfort to numb my hurts and to cover up the sadness I held in my body’, once this was exposed your choices changed and the evidence of that change is what you are living with now.

286. It’s amazing how we can think we are eating healthily whilst ignoring our body’s signals, and how great that you were finally able to listen before a more serious and permanent illness occurred. We don’t ‘get away’ with anything.

     1. And also Carmel, we go to our GPs and say please cure me because you are the expert, instead of taking responsibility for our own body and its health.

287. Chan Ly your blog shows that the body really does know what is best for us but we override all its messages. I remember feeling bloated and having stomach pains from gluten way before Universal Medicine in the 80’s and was told it was a gluten intolerance, and I remember looking around me and thinking why isn’t everyone else having a problem too and didn’t want to accept that this was true. Only when I came to Universal Medicine and began to understand that we use gluten to dull our light and make us feel heavy that I began to accept that we may all have an intolerance to gluten – it was just that my body was able to show me more than most of my friends at the time.

288. It is ironic that what would support us in feeling more vital and self nurturing in cutting out certain foods is really hard to do when there is little inclination to self nurture in the first place. I can so relate to your story Chan of overriding what we know because there isn’t the foundation of self worth in place due to a chasm of emptiness. It doesn’t take much to begin this process however. In my case it was one session with a nutritionist that started the ball rolling, first with the diet and then when that was being refined I felt more inclined to acknowledge the emptiness and to lovingly look at my hurts.

289. It is a great opportunity to address our beliefs and choices when the body shows us that something is not ok even when we ‘thought’ we were doing the ‘right’ thing. This blog brings insights into how and why this can be so. Thank you Chan.

290. As Serge Benhayon presents ” the body is the marker of all truth”. If we listen and act accordingly we can make such a difference to our lives, rather than – as you wrote about earlier in your life – “I’ll take my chances” and continued to live the same way.” Result – no change in symptoms. We get used to living in the comfort of the known, even if it is causing us ill-health. From where I now stand, that seems crackers, but for many years I didn’t want to listen to my body and its messages.

291. I had a similar experience with Gestational diabetes & though I didn’t go on insulin, as I was able to keep my GI at reasonable levels with diet control. The interesting thing was that whenever I ate foods with gluten, my blood prick test reading would be higher. I found that very odd. This is over 12+years ago and then slowly over the few years after birth of my 1st child, I could feel how whenever I would eat gluten how I bloated & felt tired. Now living a Gluten/dairy/sugar free diet, I feel very vital & energised.

292. “I felt energised, calmer, lighter and more clarity. I was feeling more myself, with less moodiness and I even started going to bed super early and waking up with vitality and no heaviness”. We are what we eat indeed. I too felt so different after eliminating gluten, dairy and sugar from my diet.

293. I love the fact that your doctor was so certain that it was your change of diet. He just knew…and so did you! It really shows us what our western diet can do to us.

     1. Yes Rebecca – one very wise doctor stating what he knew to be true.

294. Awesome blog, Chan, exposing how we are abusing ourselves with food by not listening to what the body needs. Using food to numb, comfort, stimulate, avoid etc is an assault to the body and your sharing really highlights the lovelessness of these choices. This is one of those articles that needs to get ‘out there’.

295. Thank you Chan for sharing the story of your eventual change of diet to one free of gluten, dairy, caffeine and refined sugar. I can understand how hard you found it to eliminate the gluten, after you had for many years been used to it in your diet, it can be very addictive for many people, and also especially refined sugar which is in so many so-called healthy foods nowadays. But it is great that you met so many healthy, vibrant people when you discovered Universal Medicine, and were able to really do an experiment and see how it was for you. In a way, I was lucky, I was found to be gluten intolerant a couple of years before I discovered Universal Medicine, and spent quite a time substituting other non gluten bread products which are available. I also had for quite a number of years eliminated much of the refined sugar in my diet. But I did eat a lot of fruit. So I had dealt with part of the changeover before I gradually then began to eliminate dairy. I too have found an enormous change in my vitality, and although I previously had a lot of arthritis throughout my body for many years, I no longer have any aches or pains from it whatsoever. It is as if the arthritis is no longer there, and I am not going to undergo more x-rays to find out. I now have a really simple diet, find no need even for the gluten free breads etc. and I do not miss anything that I would have eaten in the past, it is so worthwhile to me to be feeling so much lighter and really great.

     1. As far as I know arthritis is much more common in countries where they consume dairy than in countries where this is not the case.

     2. Beverley, this is awesome – the arthritis you had is no longer giving you any challenges, simply from changing your diet and eliminating dairy, gluten and sugar. How amazing our body is at sorting itself out when we finally listen to what it has been saying to us through aches, pains and distortions in our posture.

296. It’s a revelation to find the everyday substances we ingest as food can be harmful to our bodies and profoundly affect our sense of well-being. Thank you Chan Ly for helping to bust the belief that says alcohol, nicotine and caffeine is harmful but not gluten, dairy and sugar. You have opened the way for others to reflect more deeply on their attachment to gluten, dairy and sugar and perhaps consider eliminating them completely from their diets.

297. What an awesome example Chan of the difference it makes when we listen to our body. I can certainly relate to using food to numb myself. Now when I feel that I want to reach for certain foods, I take the time to really feel in my body, am I hungry and will that certain food that I am reaching for support me or am I reaching for it so as not to have to feel something. It requires discipline, but it is worth it.

     1. Yes Donna, I also take this approach to food these days. I ask myself what exactly is it that I want to avoid feeling and have discovered that feeling these feelings instead of eating and avoiding them have allowed me a much deeper and greater understanding of myself and others.

     2. Beautifully said Donna and Kathleen, and a very self-loving choice to make. I don’t always manage to do this but it is something I am also practising.

298. It has always baffled me how some people can completely trash themselves and appear to get away with it and then someone like you Chan gets an illness for not having a true diet. In the end though whatever we do that is untrue has a way of catching up on us even if it takes more than one life.

299. Chan, this is a great example of not only the wisdom our body, but also of the way we can so easily ignore the messages it is giving us and simply allow our minds to convince us that what we are eating is just fine. I like you had messages about dairy, gluten and sugar from a very early age but it took until I was 50 to listen. Everyday I am so glad that I did because I know without a doubt that my body, which suffered in many ways for all those years, would have only become more unwell and my life more of a struggle. Today at 66 with these foods out of my diet I feel more alive than I have ever been, with the quality and my enjoyment of life increasing daily.

300. Sugar was the biggest challenge for me to give up, as I was so dependent on this drug. At the time, I thought that it would be impossible to give it up, but the fact that I had cancer was the motivator for the changes I had to make to my life, and the first message my body gave me was that sugar had to go…….that was when I started to listen to my body which was the blessing as previously I had taken my body for granted.

     1. Yes jacqmcfadden04 sugar is a highly addictive drug that causes many problems in the body. A friend said to me recently ‘sugar is the new heroin’. I find it interesting how your body let you know sugar was harmful to it, as cancer loves a sugary environment to develop in.

        1. ‘Sugar is the new heroin’, wow this really made me stop to digest this…. but does feel to be true…..

     2. I can so relate to the dependency jacqmcfadden04, though sugar was never my drug of preference, mine is salt. For me salt is the biggest challenge to give up as it is totally addictive and even though on all accounts I have a minute amount, I can still feel the draw to it.

        1. I had the salt addiction too Kathleen, and now I eat very very little and never add it to my cooking. When I do occasionally eat out, and eat something with salt in it, I can really taste how strong it is and how it overpowers the natural flavours of the food – I don’t enjoy that taste any more. It really is a strong drug and yet it is added to just about everything you buy on the supermarket shelves that is not a fresh fruit, vegetable or perhaps meat or fish. It is the first thing they ask you eliminate when you get older and have any sort of heart/vascular disorder – in the quantities that it is generally consumed it is not doing us any good.

        2. I agree Josephine it is a strong drug. It is being proclaimed that by scientists that salt is more addictive than cocaine so you can understand why there is salt in everything you buy. Salt also has you eat more than you need.

        3. Yes salt is my biggest challenge and what can still trip me up the most as happened just yesterday when I was feeling tired and overwhelmed…

     3. A close friend is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and her body reacting to the treatment – she’s been quite unwell. I felt that her high-sugar diet wasn’t supporting her and suggested she might consider looking at this, but she’d been advised by her medical team, including specialists that sugar was ok, and so she will continue to have it because they have said so. What you’ve shared is that no matter what we’re told, our body knows best.

        1. So true Sandra, our body does know best, and has much to wisdom to communicate if only we listen to it. And I can add that I sailed through all my treatment (chemo, operation, radiotherapy) because of the many lifestyle choices I made such as reducing sugar to going sugar free. It took some time, did not happen overnight or within a month as sugar is just so addictive. It’s hold on me lessened when I became aware of the root cause of my sugar addiction which was; I used sugar to sweeten my life and used it as a substitute and replacement for missing the sweetness of myself.

        2. That’s it jacqmcfadden04 – using sugar to sweeten our lives – I was completely addicted to it for most of my life until a few years ago. I also used sugar to fuel me through the day as I was exhausted.

        3. We have a lot to learn and accept in medicine about food and their effects on our body. Aside from ‘junk food’, food is seen as something that is harmless. Working in a hospital I see everyday what people are given and it’s full of carbohydrate, sugar, caffeine and gluten, not to mention the amounts of food people are given. There is limited nutrition in what people are given.

301. ‘I have learnt that although I didn’t abuse my body with other substances, like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, I was actually abusing my body with food’. Who hasn’t abused and numbed their body with food to avoid feeling what is there to be felt? And let’s face it, its just so easy to over-eat and eat the wrong things. My diet got a complete overhaul when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, it was the first thing I looked at in the many lifestyle changes I made. Today I am gluten, diary, and sugar free, which has seen my health soar and my body loves me for making these changes.

302. It is interesting how we can think we are living healthily because we tick some boxes while at the same time ignoring or overriding other aspects. When I listened to Serge Benhayon presenting on the effect of gluten and dairy I was intrigued and then realised that I had always felt the effects but because I enjoyed the taste and ‘everyone’ said they were good for you I had ignored what my body was telling me. I now allow ‘everyone’ to make their own choices while I listen to the one, my body, that tells me the truth.

     1. How food taste can be a real deception. Something may taste great, but the effects on our body are devastating. We end up using taste to gauge how good a food is when really how our body feels after we eat something is our true barometer.

303. It’s really amazing to see what a difference listening to our body does for our health and wellbeing. As you share Chan by choosing to listen we become responsible for ourselves and although it can feel challenging to re-examine our diet, the benefits to our overall state of being is huge. It’s a great reminder to stop, feel and really listen to your body and see those choices that support you and those that do not.

304. Give up cheese and the bread with butter on it, that is a step too far! I thought quitting smoking was hard. I also slowly experimented removing items from my diet as you Chan and many others have experienced, the benefits of listening to our body’s does allow us to once again become naturally energized and vital.

305. It is great when our body reflects our disregard of our self, when it stops being the healthy body we expected it to be. Every health problem is a great opportunity to look and feel into what has caused it, to really learn from our body. Which is an amazing mirror for our choices.

     1. I am finding this to be true more and more Benkt van Haastrecht and also appreciating what a marvellous intricate and wise body I have, thanking myself too for my own growing wisdom in listening to it.

     2. Benkt and really it’s a miracle when we begin to see our body in this way with whatever it presents to us. Yes it is an “amazing mirror for our choices”.

306. Woohoo an awesome blog.
     The changes you’re making and the way you are experimenting with your body is pure awesome ..

307. I loved this, Chan as food is the last place we expect to look when we want to understand why we become so lethargic. I was a lot like you in that I ate ‘healthily’ and steered clear of the major health risks….yet my body always felt so light and vital when I ate meals that were dairy, gluten and sugar free. But I had no idea how truly affecting upon the body these were until I completely gave them away. It’s like my body is a very finely tuned barometer of that which supports and nourishes me and of those foods that don’t. Amazing though how when I feel connected and light within, I naturally want the same from my foods.

308. Medical statistics are misused to give you a ‘chance indicator’ to how likely you are to develop a disease. Medical statistics aren’t there to tell us to close our eyes and hope an unseen power won’t pick us to have a disease, it just tells us how many in the population have the disease and how it is currently trending.

     We have the power to not be the 1/2 to get heart disease and as a society we have the power to reduce the 1/2 all together.

309. Thank you for writing this blog Chan and showing us that we do know what is good for us and what is not and that we are able to completely ignore this knowing by the manipulations of our minds. It is so crucial that we listen to our bodies and not to overrule this if we are looking after a healthy and vital life, and if we don’t do that our bodies will bring us signals that will start in a subtle ways and become more clear and strong, until we eventually we will listen and start to take care for our bodies again. I am wondering if this is an intelligent way of living to override the signals our bodies are giving us, or should we choose to listen to the intelligence of our bodies from the beginning, as that sounds to me as a more intelligent way of living and the way to go?

310. What you share here is huge, when the amount of dairy and gluten alone that is consumed globally is massive, let alone other substances like excess sugar, fats and alcohol. So many people are abusing their bodies through the way they eat. This is exactly what I have done too and have been sold the notion that it is healthy and natural when it is clearly not.

     1. Healthy eating is unfortunately also a strategy of the food industry, so some foods will be promoted as healthy from an advertising perspective, when actually they aren’t truly healthy for us.

        1. Absolutely Heather, and this ‘brilliant’ strategy serves to keep us in the illusion that we are doing something good for our bodies, and actually comforting ourselves with that thought, instead of really listening to our bodies and what they are telling us about what we are eating.

        2. Our bodies are our best nutritionists, they know what we truly need to support us, not the food industry or advertising.

311. What I was really interested by in this blog was that even though we might follow the general rules of what is ‘good’ to eat’, we can still not live with the vitality and energy that is possible. Indeed as Chan experienced, really listening to our own bodies and eating what feels good may be a great foundation to combine with evidence based guidelines.

312. We have this idea of healthy that ticks all the boxes you describe Chan. Yet despite what appears on the surface our bodies show this is a lie. The so-called healthy lifestyle we choose is still not stopping the exhaustion epidemic. In highlighting and sharing this you show us all that true health is much greater than we think and lies in the energy we live, in every moment.

     1. After years of “super foods” obesity rates are at an all time high. What does that say about healthy eating…?

313. I found your blog held much inspiration as you shared your experience of believing what was the state of health of the body and subsequent body conversations that were seemingly at times misunderstood or overlooked. How amazing it is when we truly start to listen to the body and appreciate the inner intelligence. Thank you for sharing your transformational return to a well and healthy body by eliminating gluten, dairy and sugar.

     1. Thank you Roberta, it is truly amazing and empowering to listen to my body and honor the loving messages I receive. I am refining my diet more and more, by becoming more aware.

314. Like you Chan Ly I never thought I could give up caffeine or dairy, gluten I didn’t think about at all as I didn’t feel what it was doing to my body. With the support of the esoteric healing modalities and particularly chakra-puncture, I have been able to let go of it all and more. The change in my digestion has been enormous and my energy levels have rocketed, so that I no longer remember what it was like before my new normal, which is steady energy all day without highs and lows, the same can be said for my emotions too.

     1. The surprising thing about giving up food types that stimulate the body, like sugar, caffeine and salt, is just how strong the detox is that the body has to go through when they are being eliminated. This alone should tell us how wrong they are for us.

        1. I recall having cup of tea about 2 years after no longer having caffeine and it was the most uncomfortable feeling in my body. The raciness was too much. What was interesting about this was that I was on a plane, so I had to just sit and feel what it was doing, I could’t distract myself at all. This was all I needed to confirm that harm that it was doing to my body.

315. “I now see food and lifestyle as my medicine and preventative for developing diabetes later in life. I am not taking any chances; I am taking responsibility for my choices.” Thank you Chan, it is quite amazing when we really stop to examine our diet that what we thought was healthy is in fact dulling us down and making us sick. I too had thought that I looked after myself quite well, eating whole grain everything, brown sugar and full fat milk, all the while getting fatter each year and sliding into a pre-diabetic condition.

     What a relief it must have been when you discovered the true impact of these foods thanks to the wisdoms of Serge Benhayon. Understanding the real reason why we eat these foods, to bury our un-resolved emotions, goes a long way to supporting us to relinquish them. And the changes you have made feel like they go a lot further than just your physical health, you have transformed your relationship with your whole life, restoring your responsibility and power for your own health and well being and ensuring that choices made now support you in the future.

     1. I was the same as your Rowena in that I thought I was eating healthily with organic this and that, whole grains, biodynamic yogurt, milks and cheeses and virtually zilch refined sugars – although there was honey and so on. I was quite surprised and even a little offended when my naturopath suggested my diet wasn’t healthy and that I should come off dairy and gluten, but what a difference it made.

        1. I notice there is a whole consciousness around healthy food that is spawned of course by the ‘whole food/healthfood industry’, although when this started back in the late 50s early 60s it was promoting fairly simply food alternatives to the mainstream staples (white bread) like brewers yeast, wheat germ, brown rice, fresh juices etc. Now it is a multi-billion dollar industry with an ever burgeoning and complex array of all sorts of ‘healthy’ food substitutes to the mainstream diet that are anything but truly healthy. It’s fascinating to observe how sophisticated we can become in providing alternatives without really getting down to dealing with what makes us want these things in the first place. Food is a huge issue for most people in that we’ve been cultured to use it to dull our pain and comfort ourselves over the millennia. With that understanding it all makes much more sense.

316. I totally relate to feeling like it is impossible to eliminate gluten, dairy and sugar. I found that these foods left me feeling dull, heavy and exhausted thereby needing more of the same to get me through the day.
     Eliminating dairy reduced my nasal and sinus congestion, and therefore that foggy brain feeling. Eliminating gluten resulted in the disappearance of bloating and joint pain. Reducing sugar eliminated the ‘highs and lows’ I experienced as well as anxiety. The vitality that is felt in the body is so worth it.

     1. I agree Carmin, the image and the reality of cutting out these foods is vastly different. Mind you, I didn’t do it all at once and I allowed myself to be more and more guided by how I felt after each food… over time it became clearer and clear what I responded to well and what drained me.

     2. Me too Carmin, we end up in a Catch-22 situation, feeling flat and lifeless because of what we are eating and then seeking more of the same comfort foods to give us a little lift, which then contributes even more to us feeling flat and lifeless. When it was suggested to me that I go gluten and dairy free, I began with lots of substitute foods and started to notice a huge improvement in how I felt. After a short time this became a huge incentive to relinquish the substitutes too, as the feeling of vitality and health far out weigh any short term lift or reward the foods and beverages might give me. Its well worth giving it a go, I never appreciated just how intolerant I was to gluten, dairy, alcohol, caffeine and sugar until I stopped consuming it all. What a relief!

        1. Yes, I know this one too Carmin, Joel and Rowena. I have not been eating gluten, dairy or sugar for several years now and feel so much clearer and have more energy than before. Now if I eat these substances there is a very rapid reaction from my body – gluten blows me up like a balloon, dairy brings sinus and mucous and sugar makes me racy and unable to sleep.

        2. I too moved to the ‘free’ range of foods such as gluten free bread, soy/almond milk and sugar substitutes, as well as decaf coffee (not all at once though!) and found it to be very supportive at the time. But I found then that these foods started to affect me too and I slowly stopped them also. So they were a great step for my health, but there came a time when these substitute foods no longer supported my body in feeling well and vital, and started to make me feel the way I’d felt with the original foods (e.g. gluten free bread now sits like a brick in my stomach and I feel lethargic and sleepy after eating it, just as I used to with ordinary bread).

317. It’s always an eye opener when the body doesn’t have the healthy results we have come to expect it to have. It’s like finally the body has to be heard, we have chosen to miss the earlier signals, and now we really must sit up and pay attention. How carefully we plan a response to what the body is asking for, is crucial.

     1. It is true Felicity, it is a blessing that the body feels everything and can let us know and this is something I am enjoying developing.

     2. Agreed Felicity, it is such a wake up call and one that, if we’re choosing to be aware, shows us the consequences of our ill choices. We get away with nothing.

     3. That’s right Felicity, our body always let us know our past choices and asks us to pay attention. I know that now but I refused to acknowledge it and listen to my body prior to Universal Medicine.

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